Viam Eorum
by Relena Mishima
Summary: Sequel to Everyone Loves a Victor. Glimmer, Katniss and Gale are in District 13, but what now? The rebellion has started, but where do they fit in? Do they follow the path laid out for them, choose another or do they make their own?
1. Welcome to Your New Home

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Hunger Games and am making no money from this.

This story, like most Hunger Games stories I've read will be told from various points of view. As normal, I'll note when they change.

** Glimmer**

I wake up in a hospital bed. Funny thing is, I'm not sure why I'm in a hospital. I don't remember going into a hospital; heck, I don't remember needing any medical attention at all. So what's the deal?

Ok, let's see… I remember the arena (damn, of all the things to forget why can't it be that?), we'd blown the shield, the hovercraft had landed like promised and we all got on (with an extra Career girl even), we took off, they used this EMP machine to disable our trackers (or so they said, the machine didn't do anything that I could see) and then it gets hazy.

I don't remember landing, so something must have happened on the flight. Hmm, wait, I remember being poked with something. Those assholes! They drugged me! All right, so drugged and operated on: that's a bad start. I need to stay calm, try and figure out what they did to me and then get out of here.

I look down and see a tube running into my arm: an IV line. It might just be fluids, but I rip it out either way. I was fine before I got on that stupid hovercraft, as far as I'm concerned I don't need whatever they're trying to put in me.

There's a bandage over my right forearm. It's right where they stuck the tracker in me, so I'm guessing they removed it, but I need to be sure. I peel off the bandage and find pure, untouched skin underneath. Not a mark, not a blemish, not even a sign of the hole the tracker made when they stuck it in me.

All right, so it seems like it's gone and they have the same stuff to not leave scars the Capitol does. Well, assuming I'm not in the Capitol and this is all some mind game. Either way, I can't afford to just lie in bed.

A quick check and I know for sure there aren't any other signs of injuries or surgical stuff. I'm sure there's a needle mark where they first drugged me, maybe others, but I don't have time to look for things that small. I need to get out of here.

I get out of bed and look around. Wherever I am, I don't much like the people. It's either some Capitol facilities or whoever Haymitch works for. Snow I know sucks, Haymitch's people, well, one of the first things they did when I met some of them was to drug me, so I'm not exactly going to call them friends either.

I need a weapon. Hospitals are full of knives and fun things like that, but they don't exactly stock patient rooms with them. No scalpels, no syringes, no traditional weapons at all. Academies teach most every weapon you can imagine, but there is also a single class in nontraditional weapons.

If you know how, almost anything can be a weapon. Oh, they won't be as effective as a sword or an axe, but they don't have to be. Most people won't see something like a glass in your hand as a threat, but if you know how to use it, it absolutely is. Cup the base of the glass against your palm and thrust with the lip of the glass, preferably at the eye. Single use, but devastatingly effective. Sadly, no glasses here, just useless paper cups.

Nontraditional weapons are almost never used in the Games, but I loved the course regardless. They're just so unusual, so creative that I thought the class was great. Now I'll finally get to use it. A metal tray is where I go for my weapon. It isn't much to look at, but if you swing it edge on a tray can do some damage. My preferred place is the throat, right at the larynx. It'll stun whoever I hit and they won't be able to make a sound either.

I grab my weaponized tray just in time; I hear someone outside the door. I quickly hide behind the curtain around the bed and wait. Hopefully whoever comes in is around my size; this hospital gown has got to go.

So take out whoever's coming in, steal their clothes, sneak out, and hopefully find my friends. Sure, no problem! Glimmer Aurum, action heroine. I'll beat the bad guys, look sexy while doing it, get the girl, save the day and live happily ever after. Yeah, I'm not buying it either. But whether it'll actually work or not, damned if I'll go quietly.

The door opens and someone walks in. "Glimmer?" Wait a minute; I know that voice.

"Cinna?" Ooops, probably shouldn't have said that out loud. If I'm wrong, I just blew my biggest advantage.

"Glimmer? What are you doing back there?" Cinna pulls back the curtain, taking a look at my weapon and shakes his head. "If it was anyone else I think I'd laugh at the absurdity of a tray as a weapon."

"They took away my sword and pole arm. And clothes." I frown.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't help with the first two, but clothing, well, clothing is my specialty." Cinna hands me a bundle.

I take the bundle and look to see what Cinna got me. A dress (exactly the sort of thing I'd wear) and matching heels. "Wow, Cinna, you're the best."

"I'm glad you like it."

"Sure. But um, where exactly are we? And where are the others? And how'd you get here?"

"Katniss is next door, the room to your right to be specific. She should be waking up any time now. Gale will be out a bit longer I'm told. As for the rest, Haymitch is better suited to answer those questions." Answers from Haymitch. Yeah, right.

"All right, thanks Cinna."

Even if Haymitch won't answer anything seeing Katniss again will be good, and after that we can find Gale and get answers whether Haymitch wants us to or not.

I dress quickly (minimalist clothing is great for that) and head out to find Katniss. I probably need to run a comb through my hair and some makeup would be great, but for now just plain dressed is a big enough upgrade to keep me happy.

Properly dressed, I head out of the room. Outside it a corridor, exactly what you'd expect for a hospital. Nurses, random medical equipment, disinfectant smell, all the wonderful medical wonders they fill these places with. I can't get out fast enough.

One room to the right is my destination, and that's where I find Katniss. She's already up and looking around the room, same as I was doing just a minute ago. Difference is, she doesn't know improvised weapons. I'll have to rectify that soon.

"Glimmer?" Katniss asks, looking at me.

"Yep, it's me, Katniss." I smile, striking a pose.

"What's going on? Where are we? And where did you find a dress and heels in a hospital?"

"Cinna dropped off the clothes, the rest, no clue. Supposedly Haymitch will explain the rest."

"Oh." I don't think Katniss is convinced about Haymitch explaining things any more than I am.

"What about Gale and the others, any idea about them?"

"Supposedly Gale's still out for a bit, no idea about the others."

"What about clothes? I don't see any around here…" Katniss looks around the room and I suddenly am reminded of an important feature of hospital gowns: they have no back.

"Oooh, cute butt, Katniss!" I tease, grinning.

"Glimmer!" Katniss gasps, covering her bare butt with her hands and turning to face me.

"You don't show off often, it's good to see. Heck, I think this is the first time I'm actually wearing more than you. It's quite a change."

"That's not funny, Glimmer."

"Imagine Gale's reaction if he could see this."

"Geez, Glimmer, he's upset enough as it is. He really didn't like the kissing stuff."

"I don't see what he's so upset about; it's not like he's your boyfriend or something."

"You're the one who kept telling me we should get together. Practically every day on the phone in fact."

"And nothing ever came of it, so as I see it, he's got no cause to complain. If he wanted to be your first kiss he should have done something about it."

"Somehow I don't think he sees it quite the same way, Glimmer."

"And I'm sure I'll hear all about it from him. But I don't feel bad about what happened, and neither should you, Katniss."

"I didn't until I had to explain it to Gale, and then it felt like we did something wrong; like we betrayed him almost."

"Look, Katniss, did you enjoy it? Did you have fun?"

"Well, yeah." Katniss blushes. Cute as ever.

"That's all that matters then. Now unless you want to see how Gale reacts to that hospital gown I'll go get Cinna."

"I'll hold out for clothes from Cinna, thanks."

"Oh well, Gale's loss for missing out on that cute butt."

**Katniss**

After I'm dressed properly, Glimmer and I head into Gale's room. He's in a bed with some tube running into his arm just like I had, but unlike me he's still asleep. I turn to Glimmer to ask her if we should wake him up just in time to see her throw a pillow at Gale's head.

"Hey! Wake up!" Well I guess she thinks Gale's slept enough.

"Huh? What? What's going on?" Gale snaps awake, looking around. "Katniss? Glimmer? Where are we?"

"Hospital." I answer.

"A hospital? What the hell are we doing in a hospital?" Gale looks himself over, quickly keying in on the bandage over his arm in the exact same place I had one.

"Best I can guess they pulled our trackers." Glimmer answers.

Gale peels off the bandage. "No scar left. Actually, I don't have any scars at all, and I used to."

"It's probably a body polish. It's a Capitol thing Katniss and I got when we became Victors. Got to make everyone all nice and pretty, after all."

"So we're in the Capitol?"

"We don't actually know." I reply. "We know Cinna's here, that's how we got the clothes, and supposedly Haymitch is here and will explain things, but that's about all we know."

"Except that they took our weapons." Glimmer frowns.

"Well fuck. Soon as we gain any ground someone's there to take it away, aren't they." Gale grumbles.

"You've gained plenty of ground." Haymitch walks into the room.

"Then how about returning our weapons to us." Gale suggests.

"You don't need weapons here."

"And just where is here?" I ask.

"District 13."

"District 13 was destroyed."

"No it wasn't, that was just a cover story. District 13 made a deal with the Capitol."

"What kind of deal?" Gale wants to know.

"Do any of you know what District 13 made?"

"Graphite. Like the shit in pencils or something?" Gale replies.

"Yeah, they made that, and that's the official story. But what they really specialized was nuclear weapons."

"We've got nukes? Great, this rebellion will be over in time for dinner."

"It's not that simple. The Capitol has its own nukes. If 13 fired on the Capitol, the Capitol would fire on all the districts, and vice versa. So in effect, it's like no one has nukes. Back during the first rebellion, the Capitol agreed to let 13 disappear. They'd bomb the surface and all of 13 would be underground."

"So they just up and quit?" I ask. Seriously, these are the great allies against the Capitol Haymitch couldn't tell us about?

"Well yeah, but that's old news. They're back now, and they're fighting the Capitol with us."

"Oh, well that's ok then! They're with us now. It's not like they have a track record of being butt fucking quitters or anything." Gale starts a rant.

"They saved all of your asses. Who do you think owns that hovercraft you all got out on?"

"Well that's great, I appreciate it and all. But I still want to know what their price is to sell the districts out again."

"They're not going to sell the districts out again."

"So where's everyone else?" Glimmer wants to know.

"Johanna took a shitload of tracker jacker venom. She'll live, but she's gonna be kept sedated in the hospital here for days. Beetee's still out, but it's no surprise kids your age would wake up first."

"And Finnick and Enobaria?"

"Enobaria got put somewhere secure. Finnick is, well, he's gonna be in the hospital a while. His left Kidney's shot, the doctors are hacking what's left out now. They plan to clone a new one and stick it in when it's ready, a week or two, but it'll be a while before he's on his feet again."

"And our families?" I demand.

"Not here yet, but they aren't supposed to be."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"They blew the crap out of 12, like we figured. Actually, the bombs didn't do all that much damage, but the fires they started… Those fucked the place up good and proper. No one's been rescued yet, because we don't know if Snow's got forces waiting for that. The plan is to wait a few days, let the rebellion get going and make Snow move his Peacekeepers somewhere else. Then we get the survivors, your families included."

"And my parents?" Glimmer asks.

"No word yet. But 1 isn't a friendly place, and it's damned far, so it's no surprise we haven't heard a thing."

"Sounds like you've got a whole lot of nothing then." Gale states.

"We saved your asses; a little gratitude wouldn't kill you three. Now you all just fucking relax, we got this. Your families, the survivors from 12, we're on top of it all. So you three chill and we'll let you know when we need you." Haymitch turns and walks out.

"Fuck you too, buddy." Gale says to the vacant Haymitch.

"All that time, this is the big secret Haymitch kept from us? And he was worried we'd let it slip. Sounds like it wasn't worth talking about at all." Glimmer mutters.

Cinna chooses that moment to come in, carrying a bundle of clothes, obviously for Gale. "I see your conversation with Haymitch went swimmingly. I'm sorry I can't offer more, but what I can offer is a change of clothes for Gale and to show you to where you'll be staying."

"That's plenty, Cinna. Thanks." I smile at him.

"Yeah, this hospital sucks; it's defiantly time to leave." Glimmer agrees.

**Madge**

Last night was truly miserable. No one said much once the bombs started falling, we just moved as fast as we safely could. The explosions were deafening, some of them had to be a few hundred yards away only.

The bombs stopped, but the glow, that didn't. This ominous, evil red glow filling the sky in the direction of 12. It's fire, of course. A massive, all consuming fire. With all the coal dust all over 12 and the woods around the district, the fire has no shortage of fuel.

We went north from the district, and so far, the winds have been out of the west, so the fire may stay south of us, but that might be just me hoping. If the wind shifts we'll be running for our lives, with no idea of where we're going. That and the hovercraft coming for us is coming to this house, if the fire covers it who knows if we'll be found at all.

The trip through the woods to the house didn't have any real problems, and once we got there everyone tried to get some sleep, but it didn't really work out that way. The glow in the sky was bright, not quite like daylight, more like an angry sunset, but that was enough that no one seemed to feel like sleeping. I can't say I blame them; I knew it was coming but to know it and to experience it are very different things.

No one's particularly energetic come morning, but things need doing. Besides, if everyone's busy with work they can't focus on the loss of the district.

"All right, we've all got work to do today." I'm still in charge, after all. "This house can use some fixing up. Rory, we brought stuff to do it, so that's your job. Get help from whoever you need, ok?"

"All right, Madge. I'll work on the roof and walls I guess."

"We sort of just got here and went to bed last night, so today we should really clean the place up and try and make it more livable for everyone. Set up a kitchen, sleeping areas, that sort of thing. The water in the lake is drinkable, so we can use that. In fact it's probably a good idea to keep some on hand here so we don't always have to run out to the lake."

"And just how long should we expect to be here?" Hazelle asks.

"Three days, that's the plan. In three days time a hovercraft from District 13 should be here to pick us all up. If everything went right, Katniss, Gale and Glimmer are already there waiting for us."

"Why not today?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest. If I had to guess I'd say they're worried about Snow still having forces around."

"You're not sure? How is that?"

"They don't tell me much. It's not like I'm super high ranking super experienced rebel. Most of what I know I overheard while my dad was talking to people. Before this, keeping an eye on Gale, Katniss and Glimmer was the only other job they'd trusted me with." Maybe I should have said less, tried to project confidence, but I'm going with honesty instead. Besides, even if they don't like it, where else are they going to look for someone to be in charge.

"What about the people left back in 12?" Katniss' Mom asks.

"What about them?"

"We have to help them."

"Sorry, not an option.

"Why not? They need help."

"That may be, but help will come from other places for them."

"What, in three days maybe? I'm a healer. I have an obligation to help people, and I'm going to do that, and you, Margaret Undersee cannot stop me."

"Actually I can, and I will. But before things get that far you need to understand the big picture here. There is a revolution going on, and Katniss, Gale and Glimmer are a big part of it. If Snow captures you, if he captures any of us, then he has leverage over them, and we can't let that happen."

"Even if people in 12, people we know, people who are our friends suffer and die while we sit and do nothing?"

"Yes." God, I feel like such a monster saying that. But it's true; if Snow caught Katniss' Mom, or god forbid Prim, Katniss would do anything to get them back, no matter the cost for the rest of Panem. Well, ok, maybe not so much her mom, but certainly Prim.

"Is there anything else we need to know?" Hazelle breaks the awkward silence that's fallen on us.

I think about it a minute. "Yeah, don't wander off anywhere. Actually, stay within sight of the house at all times, please. And don't go outside the house alone. Even if you're just walking to the lake, take someone with you."

Everyone gets up to go about their day, but I stay and discretely wave Prim over.

"What's up, Madge?"

"I need you to keep an eye on your mom, Prim; make sure she doesn't do anything rash."

"Yeah, I know, I was planning to do that anyway. But I have to say, Madge, I don't like this."

"I know, Prim, I don't like it either. Leaving people we know behind, maybe letting them suffer while we're here is terrible. But we don't have a choice. As bad as this is, the alternative can be a lot worse."

Prim didn't like hearing that and I didn't like having to say it, but there's one more matter I have to cover.

"Prim, you still have the gun I gave you last night?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I want you to carry that with you full time."

"Why?"

"We should be safe here, but there are still wild animals in the woods. Also, Peacekeepers could find us."

"And if that happens what, I should shoot them?"

"Well it'd be better if they don't find us, or if you see them first and can hide or something, but if there's no choice, yes, I want you able to defend yourself."

Prim thinks about it for a bit. "Guns are loud, maybe I could just shoot in the air and scare off whatever comes by? You'd hear the shot and come running too, so that'd be ok, right?"

"No Prim, that won't work. This is life and death here, there's just no room to try and scare someone and hope. If something happens, you have to shoot to kill. I'm sorry, but I know you can handle it."

"…all right." Yeah, not a happy girl.

It's not a great, happy family home, but I'm not the stay at home mom type really, so for now, good enough.

**Gale**

The rooms they gave us to stay in are nothing too impressive at all, but they've got a hot shower and a closet full of clothes (thank god for Cinna). I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the huge apartment thing in the Capitol, though.

The hot shower felt great, but being from the Seam I never was one to luxuriate or whatever the hell you call taking a shower that lasts a damned hour. Glimmer though, well… Yeah. She's Glimmer. But I knew it'd go like that, so I finished up in time and am waiting outside her door (for a long damned time) when she finally comes out, all clean and made up and whatever other crap girls do in the bathroom.

"Gale, what's up?" she greet me.

"We need to talk."

Glimmer just rolls her eyes and heads back inside, leaving the door open for me to follow. She must have known this was coming. I mean, come on, it was obvious. I walk in, letting the automatic door close behind me.

I have no idea if she plans to derail this or just let me talk, but either way, I'm not waiting. "Glimmer, I thought we were friends, so what the fuck? I mean, you know I like Katniss and you're making out with her? I don't get you."

"You know what, Gale? I don't get you either. You've liked Katniss for god knows how long. I figured it out pretty quick after Katniss mentioned your name in the 74th Games there was something there. I even teased her about it."

"I know, I saw it on TV, Glimmer."

"Yeah? You know what you didn't see? When Katniss and I got that illegal phone line, I teased her about it every single day. Told her you had a crush and she should do something about it. I did everything I could to set you two up."

"You did?"

"Katniss is my friend, at the time my only friend, and I wanted her to be happy. So yeah, I tried to set her up with someone: you. But then you did something weird. Nothing. Half a year after the Games of my teasing Katniss and trying to convince her to do something with you and nothing happened. Before the Victory Tour, you saw what a wreck she was, and nothing happened. After the tour, nothing. All that time and you did nothing with it. So I don't get you, Gale. You say you like the girl, but you don't want to do anything about it?"

"It's not that simple, Glimmer. Katniss and I have known each other since our dads died. We depended on each other to keep our families alive. And you know how fucked up Katniss is with emotions. She's not the sort of girl you can just ask out."

"No, but you can just kiss her. Trust me on that." Glimmer smirks.

"Not funny."

"Point is, Katniss is never going to figure it out, and you have to be the one to make a move. Don't blame me if you never could. I pushed as hard as I could for you, but being interested in a girl isn't some eternal call of dibs you know."

"I did make a move. I told Katniss I love her."

Glimmer blinks. "What? When?"

"A few days before the last reaping."

"What'd she say?"

"What do you think? It's Katniss; she didn't really say anything."

Glimmer just shakes her head. "So you like about the most emotionally inaccessible girl in Panem and your big first move was to dump the mother lode of emotions on her head. Wow."

"Hey!" It sounds pretty fucking stupid when she says it like that. "Anyway, point is, she's mine, so no more make out sessions."

Glimmer looks me in the eye. She's in heels (when outside an arena is she not?) so I don't have that much of a height edge over her. "Gale, like you said, we're friends, but last I heard Katniss is single. I tried pushing her in your direction for months, but I'm not sure I'm ready to just walk away now. I don't plan to get in your way or screw with you or anything, but I've had some fun with Katniss. So until she says she's with you, sorry, but I'm not going to stop doing what I want here."

"I see." So the supermodel really is my competition here. My competition and my ally in whatever crap 13 has planned for us here.

"Nothing personal, Gale. Like I said, we're friends, but I'm not ready to drop this just because you finally decided to say something. It does make you wonder though, doesn't it?"

"What's that?" Here it comes.

"Why do you think she never said anything about your big declaration to me?"

Fuck. That's a good damned question. It figures she'd zero in and ask that.

"Anyway, I'm hungry. You know if there's any food around here?"

"Um, yeah, I told Katniss we'd meet her in whatever dining hall they have here."

"Great, let's go." Glimmer smiles and heads off like she doesn't have a care in the world. Weird chick. I just follow.

**Glimmer**

Apparently, meals here are all premeasured things. They just hand you a tray and that's what you get. Well that explains why there's no kitchens in the quarters they gave us. Not that one would fit anyway. My closet back in 1 is bigger than the joke of a room I got. Seriously, they've had 75 years and this is the best they can do? What the heck have these people been doing in all this time?

Katniss is already here, sitting at a table by herself and Gale and I join her. We trade greetings and I finally bother to look down at what sort of food is actually on this tray. Normally you'd have some sort of meat in a meal. You know, beef, chicken, pork, something like that. Not here though. There's some sort of colorless goop sitting in the middle of the tray.

"What the hell is this?" I demand.

"I'm not sure. I was hoping you might recognize it. Maybe some weird thing from 1 or some of that instant stuff you said you eat some times?" Katniss answers.

"Instant stuff might not compare well to real home cooking, but at least it's recognizable as food. I don't know what the heck this is."

Gale pokes the odd substance with his fork. It seems soft, but when pushed it bounces back to its original shape. "Are we supposed to eat this shit?"

"It looks like other people are." Katniss says, looking around other table.

"Yeah, I don't think so. Anyone seen my cell? I'm ordering a pizza." As if I'd eat this.

"What's a cell?" Katniss asks.

"What's a pizza?" Gale wants to know.

"A cell is a cellular phone. You know, portable phone, no wires, fits in your pocket or purse. And a pizza is food. Tasty takeout food." I forgot how backwater the Seam back in 12 was.

"I'm afraid there's no takeout in 13." Beetee says, sitting down with us. "I hope you don't mind if I join you three."

"Sure, have a seat." Gale offers.

"Why isn't there any takeout in 13? With this stuff a restaurant would clean up here." Seriously, no one here wants to get rich?

"There are no independent businesses in 13, and there is no money in District 13." That is Beetee's answer.

"How the hell do you run a district with no money?" Gale demands.

"Apparently the government runs everything. Clothes are provided, medical services, food, everything in provided and carefully rationed. This food for instance, you couldn't get more if you wanted."

"So everyone just gets free shit?" Gale got the shit part right. This food sucks, and everyone around here is wearing these gray jump suits. Seriously ugly stuff. Thank God Cinna somehow got all of us real clothes.

"Technically, yes. But jobs here are mandatory. If you don't work, you are incarcerated."

"How do you know all this?" I ask.

"They require my services, so I spent the afternoon learning about my new employers."

"You happen to learn to what this stuff is?" Gale points at the mystery substance on our trays.

"I asked when I picked up my tray. Apparently this is a synthesized vitamin enhanced protein substitute."

"Uh, I thought protein comes from meat." Gale frowns.

"Well, normally, yes. But raising animals for slaughter takes space and resources District 13 lacks. Since everything is underground here, a substitute had to be invented."

"This isn't one of your inventions, is it, Beetee?" Good question, Katniss.

"Most certainly not."

"Ok, then. Katniss, Gale, you two are hunters, right? Can you like, hunt us up some actual food?" This just isn't right. I ate better than this in an arena for God's sake.

"Going to the surface is strictly forbidden." Beetee says. "Now if someone was to somehow find some way to the surface, they should keep in mind that it is monitored. Unless they get help from someone with access to District 13's security systems they wouldn't get far at all."

Well, I think I know what we're going to do to pass the time until our friends and families get here.

**Author's Notes:**

So here it is, the third part to my Hunger Games series. It's a little later than I had planned, too. I would have liked to have written 10-15 chapters in advance so I could guarantee I'd always be able to release chapters weekly, but it didn't work out that way. There are a few written and I'll try to do weekly releases, but I can't guarantee I'll manage to keep that pace up.

Thanks a lot to that-fan who's helped me along developing and editing this story. And of course, I'd love to hear from readers. So if you have something to say please leave me a review. I really appreciate it. Thanks.


	2. How We Got Here

** Disclaimer:** I don't own The Hunger Games and am making no money from this.

This story, like most Hunger Games stories I've read will be told from various points of view. As normal, I'll note when they change.

** Katniss**

The beds in 13 really aren't very good at all. Small, not very soft, pillows that are about a third as thick as they should be. Yeah, I think it's fair to say I miss my huge fluffy bed from that Victor's Village house. I used to make fun of Glimmer for being soft, complaining if she'd miss a meal or how she didn't like sleeping in trees; now look at me, I'm just as bad.

Ok, maybe I am getting soft, but I'm sorry, after a day in 13, I miss that Victor's Village house. I didn't think I'd ever think of it as home, just a place where I lived. Home was that little run down house in the Seam. But looking back, I really do think of it as having been home. Glimmer lived there with us; Gale was always around, Madge too; also we had actual food there and comfy places to sleep.

Between the lousy beds, the tiny bathrooms, the small living spaces and the food, this place hasn't made a great impression on any of us so far. I can only imagine the complaining we'd have to endure from Glimmer if we actually had to wear these gray jump suit things everyone around here seems to have.

They haven't told us what we're supposed to do or asked us to help with anything or, well, really talked to us at all, which I think is kind of weird. I know Haymitch never said much but I hoped now that we're here and there's supposedly a revolution things might change. No such luck.

Today we're planning to look around the place and if we're lucky find some way to the surface. I have no idea how big this district is or how many people live here, so we might be at this for days, but we need something to do while we wait for our families.

But first is breakfast. If they don't have animals here then bacon and eggs are both out. I'm really worried whatever it was they fed us last night is what's on the menu for every meal, every day.

I meet up with Glimmer and Gale outside our rooms (apartments? I think they might be too small to be called that though.) We're heading for the dining hall along with seemingly everyone from this part of the district when we come to a jam of people.

"What the hell is this?" Gale frowns.

"Bad food isn't enough, we have to wait in line too?" No surprise Glimmer isn't happy either. If I think the accommodations are lousy, I can only imagine what she'd say if someone asked her.

"Last damned time I let Haymitch make travel plans."

The line moves fairly quickly; whatever's causing it isn't a huge time sink. The locals don't seem surprised by this at all. To them it's like this happens every day.

When we finally get to the front of the line there's a pair of district 13 guys in official looking uniforms and some sort of weird machine. I can't even begin to guess what it's for.

"Soldiers Aurum, Everdeen and Hawthorne, your arms please." One of the guys from 13 demands.

"What do you need our arms for?" Gale asks.

"Your schedules."

"You couldn't just slide them under our door in the morning or something?" I wonder out loud.

"Paper is in limited supply and could be lost; it would be a waste."

"Uh, so how do we get schedules then?" Glimmer wants to know.

"They are printed on your arm." Wait, what?

"No way you're doing that to me." Glimmer gasps.

"Oh relax, the ink is temporary; it only lasts a day."

"I don't care if it gives me super powers, no way are you printing anything on me."

"This is not optional, Soldier Aurum."

I don't know this guy (he looks more like a technician than a real authority figure), but I do know Glimmer and I know that tone of voice; she isn't going to give ground on this. At this point, it doesn't matter if I agree with Glimmer or not.

"Not gonna happen." Glimmer starts walking past the District 13 guy, but he grabs her arm. "You're touching me." Glimmer looks down at the hand on her arm and then back to the technician guy.

I'm not sure if he's going to take the hint (he really should, Glimmer looks like she'd wipe the floor with him in a fight), but before he do anything else a large hand closes over his shoulder. Gale managed to get behind him while everyone was focused on Glimmer. He always did love trying to sneak up on people, especially me.

"The lady said let go." Gale states. He starts applying force to the technician's shoulder. The guy tries to put on a brave face, but it's pretty obviously having an effect.

"Fine." the technician frowns, letting Glimmer go. "But I will be reporting this, Soldier Hawthorne."

"Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night. Oh, and by the way, we never agreed to be anybody's soldiers."

Gale gives the technician's shoulder one last squeeze and continues on our way to the disappointing breakfast waiting for us.

**Glimmer**

Well, having looked around 13 for the better part of the day we've learned a few things. First, it's big. Like, really big. These corridors seem to go on forever. And it goes way underground too; lots of stairs and elevators. I'm not sure how big this place is yet, but I think there might even be some little tram system here somewhere. It's nuts.

Another thing we learned is whoever runs 13 loves gray. It's absolutely everywhere. Gray concrete, gray doors, gray electrical conduit, gray water pipes, gray uniforms on everyone we see. Seriously, if you're in Panem and looking for gray paint, don't bother. District 13 got it all.

They also love their robots. Not cool city destroying titans like you'd see in a movie or video game (and I'd totally love to pilot), no these are overgrown shopping carts and palate movers. All day long they just drive around, totally unattended, going from place to place, scanning bar codes on these big boxes (also gray, of course), picking them up, moving them, dropping them off and then on to the next box.

I'm kind of curious why they do this, to be honest. Sure delivering mail and packages and moving boxes and all that isn't a glamorous job, but is it really so bad no one would want to do it? Or maybe they're just plain short on people? They all have to do Important Stuff and no one can be spared to move things? I suppose it could be the food too. A lifetime of eating that miserable cesspool of food and no one's got the muscle tone to life a heavy box anymore maybe?

These are the sorts of exciting thoughts that occupy my mind today. Seriously, what else is there? We're all nervous about our friends and families; no one wants to talk about that. So what else? How cool my heels sound clicking on the hard floors and echoing through these endless corridors? Yeah, sure, they do, great, but not a lot to say there.

We found some places that are interesting, sure. Gyms, workout rooms, training rooms, that sort of stuff, but we didn't go in. They're close to the closets they stuck our beds in so we can go back anytime. Also they aren't what we're looking for today. That and I kind of want to wait until Madge is with us. She did all that work for this rebellion after all, we can wait a few days to see what the training facilities are like. It'll be nice to all see them for the first time together as a group.

By late afternoon, we're ready to give up on exploring for the day and decide to go visit Finnick in the infirmary. I don't know if they have visiting hours here, but it doesn't really matter; none of us feels much respect for the rules of this place.

Of course if Haymitch would tell us something we might feel more connected, but no chance of that. I sort of think he's waiting to see what happens with our families. After all, if Prim doesn't make it, they can kiss our cooperation goodbye on anything. Actually, Katniss might try blowing the place up or something. I sure won't tell her not to.

I'm sure Haymitch knows that; I'm not that worried about Prim and Madge and all them. It's my own parents that worry me. I got Haymitch to agree to try to get them out, but he didn't even try to convince me it was likely to work. I wasn't going to take no for an answer though, so bad odds or not, it's still better than leaving them for Snow. And his trying to tell me what a risk it was to their agents or whoever they send, well, yeah, boo hoo. I've risked my life plenty; they owe me.

It's totally out of my hands now though. No word on what's going on, no time table to arrive, not even an estimate when I might hear some sort of update. It sucks. Haymitch is trying to handle me in his usual manner, which is ignoring me, but I'm getting really tired of it. I know Gale's pretty fed up with the guy too. I think the time's coming to have some serious words with Haymitch.

It doesn't take much to work find Finnick's room (his name is on the door.)

"Oh, it's all of you. Hi." Finnick greets us. He's lying in bed, so I can't see the wound, but his face looks ok at least. Good color and he's smiling and all that.

"Hi, how you doing?" asks Katniss.

"I'm ok. They've got me on painkillers so I don't feel much; sort of loopy though. It's weird, like time slips past sometimes and I don't notice, and I'm pretty sure I should be a bit more freaked out about losing a kidney, but I'm not."

"Yeah, Haymitch told us they're growing you a new one or something." Gale says.

"That's right. Flash screwed mine up good and proper so they just took it completely out once I got here. Now somehow from my blood they're going to grow me a new kidney. Whole thing will take about two weeks they say. After that it's back into surgery to get it stuck in and then, well, I have to just heal from the big hole in my back."

He's right; he is a bit loopy sounding so casual about all that.

"Any of you know where Enobaria is? Haymitch just told me not to worry about it."

"Haymitch told us something or other that's basically a nice way of saying she's in jail." I answer.

"Ah, thought it might be that."

"Why's she in jail though? The other Victors here aren't."

"Well, because she wasn't supposed to be here, see. In the original plan, I ditch the Careers and join you all. Problem was, I didn't pull that off and I wasn't going to make it, so I had to get Enobaria to, well, carry me."

"So she was supposed to be left in the arena." Katniss comments.

"And as far as the locals are concerned she's still a loyal member of Team Snow." Gale adds.

"Exactly." Finnick confirms. "What about Johanna? I saw her down before Finnick stabbed me. She ok?"

"Tracker jacker stings. A lot of them." Katniss answers.

"She going to survive?"

"Yeah, Haymitch says so at least. They're keeping her sedated for a few days until the venom passes."

Ah, Johanna Mason. Now there's a name that's problematic for me. Things with Gale concerning Katniss were a bit tense, but at least I know what to make of him. With Johanna, I just don't know. Her shameless flirting (shameless even by my standards, that's how bad it was) sort of got tiresome, yeah. But then she saved me from those tracker jackers.

It was a bad mistake to freeze like that, it was exactly what the trap was designed to make me do, but I couldn't help it. That thing looked just like Finch, she was all alive and healthy like I remembered her then all of a sudden there's Marvel's stupid spear stuck through her lung.

That moment of hesitation should probably have killed me. Tracker jackers are survivable, but take enough stings and you're done. That machine wasn't made just to hurt me, and at that range I can't believe I'd have survived. No, there probably would have been ten times the number of bugs required to kill. It should have worked; I should be dead.

But I'm not. Instead of dying, Johanna Mason knocked me out of the way and took a back full of stings herself. I'm grateful, I really truly am, but I also don't know what the heck to think of her now.

All the flirting I wasn't sure what she meant by it. I mean yeah, flirting, duh, that's an obvious one; I'm not Katniss here. But I didn't know if she just wanted to sleep with me or somehow she was actually serious about like, a real relationship and stuff.

I don't know a whole lot about relationships. In the academy in 1, any so called relationships I was in were always part of an angle: to get something, to be seen by the right people, to get the right reactions. There could be a lot of reasons, but it was always a big manipulation.

Gale's worried about Katniss and I being in a relationship but really, it's just, well, I'm doing like I always do: I'm doing whatever I want. I feel like kissing Katniss and I do. It's worked well for me in most of my life. A lot of the time I have a plan, but always living on a plan is boring. So for stuff where it's not life or death I just do what seems fun. And yeah, that was fun. But no way am I in a relationship with her.

Seriously, what would I do in a normal relationship? Go out to dinner with someone? And what, we talk about work? Oh honey, did you see the way I dismembered that guy on TV today! Yeah, right. I might be willing to give a lot of kinky things a shot, but dismemberment turning someone on is where I draw the line.

Now that I think about it, I wish I'd had more time to talk to other Victors. Ask questions like what they do with their lives; do they just sit alone or what. I know Finnick has Annie (another Victor), but Haymitch is alone. Beetee still does inventor stuff, but I get the impression most Victors don't hold normal jobs.

Outside of teaching at that academy in 12, (since the one in 1 wanted no part of me) I don't think I'm cut out for a normal job. I guess Johanna's the same. And certainly she has the sort of personality that has no friends. So what's her big interest in me? Yeah, I'm hot, I get that. But you don't risk your life just to save a hot chick; she didn't know if she'd survive those stupid bugs or not, but she did it anyway.

Does she actually want a relationship with me? Like serious girlfriends with actual emotional attachment and all that stuff? I think she might. What do I say to that? Half the interactions with her was just stuff to tease Katniss. A lot of the rest just sort of annoyed me, really.

I owe her, there's no denying that. But debt or not I just don't think I can say I feel much of anything for her. Nothing against Johanna, I don't mind hanging out with her and she seems to know how to handle herself in a fight, but that's kind of as far as it goes for me. I feel bad I probably can't tell her what she'll want to hear when she wakes up.

It's only now that I notice we're not in Finnick's room anymore. Apparently we finished up there and leaving the infirmary. Damn it, I really need to find something to do. I'm getting lost in my own head way too much.

**Gale**

The way Finnick told it, the Career alliance was pretty fucked up this year. I can't believe we're this bored, but we're actually going to see just what happened there. We only know of one place to do that in 13, so we're going to see Beetee.

We found his lab earlier in the day. It's one of an endless number of gray doors, but his name was on it. Sure enough, he's in there, working in front of a wall of computers and other technological stuff.

"Ah, hello." Beetee greets us. "I never did properly express my thanks for all you did in the Games. I quite literally could not have done it without you." Now why can't Haymitch be more like this guy? "So, what brings you to my lab today?"

"We were talking to Finnick and he said the Career alliance was pretty fucked up. You got the footage that we can watch?" I answer

"You want to watch footage of the Games?"

"There's no video games in here and the only TV is District 13's official stuff." I've suspected for a while Katniss has gotten way more addicted to video games than she lets on.

"Ah, I see. Well perhaps long term I can help with the interactive entertainment, but that might take a bit of time. As for the Games, yes, they have the footage here, though I haven't seen it myself."

Beetee types for a few minutes before all the monitors in the place pop up the Capitol logo.

"And me without any popcorn." Glimmer comments.

"There probably isn't any in this damned district." I frown.

"It seems like nothing good is in this district." Katniss sighs.

"Well they do have impressive technology, the equal of the Capitol or only a little bit behind." Beetee points out.

"How the hell do they have that when the other districts have crap?" I want to know.

"They steal it."

Well somehow that figures. I'm no artist or writer or anything like that, but I'm pretty sure endless gray walls don't make for great inspiration. Hell, Beetee has a room full of technology here and he's the only one in here. I'm not sure other people work in here, either. There's room for them, but it doesn't look like anyone is here regularly. No names on any desks, no pictures of family, nothing. What, are they hoping Beetee trains some assistants or something? I dunno, this district just doesn't make much sense to me.

The footage of the bloodbath's about what I'd expect, I guess. I don't usually watch them; I did once or twice out of morbid curiosity, but most years I try my hardest to tune it out as much as is possible with a required broadcast.

"Do Careers usually get that… messy?" Katniss asks. "I know you sort of um, got into it in yours, Glimmer, but that seems like a lot of blood…"

"No, that's not normal at all. Killing is what happens; you all know that. But he covered himself in blood like it's war paint or something."

After that is a long time of failure we fast forward through for the most part. It's just Flash kissing Enobaria and Finnick's asses and failed hunts. It's pretty much the most boring Career pack I can remember.

"Damn, they put this shit on TV? Talk about boring." I wonder how many people fell asleep in front of their TVs.

"Not exactly the terrifying stand ins for the Capitol Snow must have wanted." Glimmer comments.

The only reason I'm not already asleep watching is because I know this show goes off the rails sometime. After all, the chick from 4 that Flash hates dies somehow and Finnick got an extra hole added too.

Sure enough, the show doesn't disappoint. After another failed hunt on that super cold night, Flash finally loses it and kills that poor Azel chick. I don't usually feel bad for Careers, but this poor girl was straight up murdered. Dude just walked up behind her and broke her neck. No fight, no fair chance, nothing.

"Damn." I mutter. Killing her was bad, but throwing her body onto the fire? That's just messed up.

"Yeah, really." Katniss agrees.

"You'd think that would smell bad. Burning hair and all." What the fuck? Katniss and I both look at Glimmer.

"What? I've got no idea; I've never burnt a body."

Of all the things wrong with that scene, the smell of burning hair is what's foremost in Glimmer's mind? Someday I'd love to know what goes on in there. It's got to be the most random, fucked up collection of thoughts imaginable.

Not long after Azel's little farewell scene the Careers decide to ditch the Cornucopia (about a day later than I would have.) Things seem like they're going to get boring again when for some reason Finnick takes something Flash says real personal and tries to kill the kid. He'd have pulled it off too, if not for Enobaria.

"What the hell was that?" I want to know.

"That girl Flash mentioned, Annie. She and Finnick are married." Glimmer explains.

"Seriously? Finnick's the biggest player in all of Panem, and the guy's married?"

"They got married in secret. Snow doesn't care they're married; he still makes Finnick go on appointments." Katniss adds.

"She's actually a really nice girl. Pretty traumatized, but nice. Katniss and I met her when we were in 4 on the Tour." Glimmer fills in.

Wow, the most womanizing guy in the known world, and he really has a nice wife waiting for him at home. The whole thing, the entire legend of Finnick Odair is all Snow's shit. I knew appointments were bad, but Snow didn't just send Finnick on them, he reinvented the man. Poor bastard.

"Is Annie safe with all this rebellion stuff going on?" I look at Beetee.

"I'm not privy to such details, but I would expect she is. There's simply no way Finnick would have agreed to all this if there wasn't a plan to secure Annie."

Well, the Careers are almost at our little base and still no holes in Finnick, so whatever happened to him, it's got to be about to happen.

It's when the Careers try to split up and come at us in a pincer that Flash makes his move. It's a good plan (the one we expected), but of course once you put a hole in your ally it doesn't work so well.

"He sure likes attacking his allies from behind." Katniss comments.

"Hmm, you're right, he has come at both from behind. Interesting." Glimmer comments.

I knew Flash's betrayal was coming, I saw the wound on Finnick, but what I didn't expect was all the talk. Flash just goes on and on; the man will not shut up.

"What the hell? Is there some reason he's talking that long?" Seriously, if he was an actor I'd wonder if he's paid by the word or some shit.

"It's insecurity." Glimmer explains. "That's why he wouldn't look someone in the eye when he kills and why he's talking so much. He's trying to justify it. If not for the weird Quell rules and Gloss really obviously picking an assassin to go after me no way he'd have been in the Games."

"What do you mean?" Katniss asks.

"Academies don't let people who are that, well, nuts, graduate. They'd let him get real far, sure, but one of the last tests is a psych eval. He'd have been washed out there."

"What, bat shit crazy tributes are bad?" There aren't many Careers I'd call totally sane. Glimmer's borderline on that count.

"Well yeah, think about if the Games were going to continue. District 1 would be hard pressed to get into the Career pack again. I doubt 2 would trust them far, and there's no way 4 would ever be in the same alliance as 1 anymore. A few tributes that go off the rails like Flash and, well, me, and future alliances get messed up."

"Ok, that makes sense. Academies are in it for the long haul and all that."

Glimmer nods and we watch the little bit of footage that remains. Finnick talks Enobaria into helping him and they meet us and everyone lives happily ever after in prison. I mean District 13.

"Finnick was right; that alliance was messed up." Katniss nods to herself.

"I wasn't kidding when I told you Career packs are dangerous places to be, Katniss." Glimmer states.

"I knew you weren't, but this was really bad."

"Yeah, usually things go sideways when the alliance breaks up, not this sort of running terror in there."

Damn, we really didn't have it that bad in the Games at all. The meteors and weather (especially the damned cold) sucked, but it was a lot closer to a big camping trip for the three of us than a real death game. I was wondering why, and now I know. One of our biggest threats was busy being insane.

"Hmm, this is interesting." Beetee comments after having been silent the entire time we were watching the footage from the Games.

"What is?" Katniss asks.

"It seems there's a discussion on Capitol television that is relevant to this going on right now."

"I didn't think we got any Capitol stations here." I never was a huge TV watcher, but even the god awful Capitol stuff is better than the crap here in 13. It's about as creative as the paint and as appealing as the food. You do the math.

"Actually, we do." Beetee answers. "The Games are shown here for instance, though not as required viewing. However, in general the stations are monitored but not available for general viewing."

Beetee pushes a few buttons and all the monitors switch to some Capitol station where Caesar is interviewing some ridiculous looking Capitolite.

"So, are the rumors true?" Caesar opens.

"Indeed they are, Caesar; the Games will be restarted."

"Really. How will that be accomplished?"

"Well we can't undo the damage of that horrible accident, of course, but we've extensively reviewed the undamaged footage from just before the explosion and we are meticulously recreating the conditions for every tribute left alive. We're nearly done reconstructing the Games and in just a few short days the tributes will be reinserted into the arena and the Games will resume."

"That's wonderful news, I'm sure all our viewers will be delighted to hear it. Do you have any idea what caused the accident, however?"

"We've traced it back to an ancient power substation. We aren't sure exactly how it happened, but when Katniss Everdeen and Beetee activated their trap, possibly to test it, as there were no tributes in its area of effect, there was an unexpected interaction between the Arena's power supply, which Beetee had tapped into and an ancient power system."

"How did those systems interact, do you know?"

"As you know, this arena was built on an existing city and it seems some of the workers cut corners and used existing power lines and conduits rather than lying all new ones as they should have. So when the power system was tampered with, a terrible accident occurred. It should never have been possible if the construction plans were followed, but unfortunately that was not the case."

"Which led to the terrible tragedy. Has the death toll been confirmed yet?"

"Yes. We have positively identified the remains of Glimmer Aurum, tribute from District 1, Enobaria from District 2, Beetee from District 3, Finnick Odair from District 4, Johanna Mason from District 7 and Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne, both from district 12."

"That asshole!" Glimmer yells, jumping to her feet. "They killed me off? What the hell!"

"What'd you expect, Glimmer?" Seriously, did she think they'd tell the truth?

"But they killed me off screen! Only losers die off screen! I'm a main character; the star of the Games. I don't die like some nobody."

"You know you aren't dead for real, right Glimmer?" Katniss asks. It should be a silly question but it somehow isn't.

"That's not the point! This is no way to treat a girl like me. You don't just write me out of the story. That's not gonna fly; no, not gonna fly at all.

**Author's Notes:**

Well chapter 1 certainly got a nice reaction, thanks everyone, I really appreciate it. I guess people really were waiting for this story. Like always, thanks to that-fan, if not for him this story wouldn't be nearly as good as it is. I couldn't do it without him.

I'm delighted people liked chapter 1 and I'm very thankful for all the reviews and feedback. Please, if you like this chapter, do leave a review. They're great to get.


	3. Doctor, Doctor Give Me the News

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Hunger Games and am making no money from this.

This story, like most Hunger Games stories I've read will be told from various points of view. As normal, I'll note when they change.

** Katniss**

Haymitch is waiting for us by that machine that prints a schedule on your arm. You know, the one Glimmer is murderously opposed to having used on her. I'm not sure if Haymitch is here to get her to agree or not, but I don't like his odds if he is. Glimmer was real serious about this, and I think Gale's looking to pick a fight with Haymitch. This could be an active morning.

"You three, come with me." I guess Haymitch isn't here about that schedule thing.

Haymitch leads us through District 13's endless corridors. I recognize some at first, but before long he heads into some restricted access ones that we hadn't gotten around to exploring yet. After a few minutes of this Haymitch leads us through a set of double doors to a huge room full of hovercraft.

"A hovercraft hangar? What are we doing here?" Gale asks.

"There's a flight coming in you'll want to be here for." Haymitch doesn't say anything more about it.

We wait around a bit before the far wall begins to open. Apparently the whole thing is one massive door. It's bright on the other side; sunlight. I haven't seen it in days. I wish we could go outside; we're so close, but I know they won't let us.

I have to settle for looking out a giant door and seeing trees in the distance and blue sky, and just now entering the hangar, another hovercraft. The hovercraft maneuvers to a numbered area (number 4) and lands, shutting down its engines.

"It's for you." Haymitch announces as the hovercraft's back gate opens.

There's only one thing I can think of that Haymitch could mean. It takes forever for the gate to open, but finally it does and it turns out I'm right.

"Prim!" I yell in delight, hugging my little sister (who's not so little; she's my height now).

"Katniss." Prim smiles, hugging me back.

Somewhere off to the side I'm dimly aware of Gale hugging his own family, but it's really not my focus at the moment. "Are you ok, Prim? Everything went ok?"

"I'm fine, Katniss; we're all fine. We were already outside the fence when the bombs started dropping."

"So they really did blow up 12?"

"Well we didn't go back, Madge said it'd be a bad idea, but from all the explosions and the glow, I think it's gone."

I finally let go of my sister. I'm still kind of amazed she's here. The whole thing with calling home and trying to put together some escape plan was really thrown together, and I know Haymitch did it mainly to shut us up and keep us focused on the Games, but it actually worked; my family's actually here.

I exchange greetings with my mother while Prim hugs Gale, and then oddly has a rather emotional reunion with Glimmer.

"Hi Katniss. How's District 13?" Madge asks, apparently the last one off the hovercraft.

"It's um… It takes some getting used to." Yesterday I might have given an answer a lot more like what Gale and Glimmer usually would, but today District 13 actually delivered for me.

"I don't suppose there's another hovercraft coming from 1, is there?" That's right. Gale and I got our families back, but Glimmer's parents aren't here.

"Sorry princess, not yet. But we didn't expect to hear from that team yet, so don't worry. Just gotta be patient. Though now that we've delivered at least most of what we promised I think it's time to talk about what all of your role here is."

"Our role here in 13?" Glimmer asks.

"I thought our role would be to go fight." Gale offers.

"Why would you think that?" Haymitch replies.

"We trained to do it for a long time; Glimmer's trained for it all her life. Everyone in Panem knows us, just seems logical we'd be out there leading the fight."

"Sure, everyone knows your faces, but it's a waste to let you go fight. You could get your asses shot, and then you're not use to anyone. No, what we need you all to do it make propos here."

"What the hell's a propo?" Gale demands. I glance at Glimmer and she shrugs too. Ok, local word I guess.

"Propos are propaganda films. You know, short commercials, stuff a bit longer maybe, shit to inspire people and incite more people to rebel, that kind of thing."

Wait, what? We got brought here to star in TV commercials? Is this a joke?

"Are you drunk, Haymitch? Hmm, or maybe sober? Whichever one makes you say crazy shit." Gale looks at Haymitch oddly.

"Look, just think about it, ok? Take your families, get them settled in and talk it over. We'd really like it if you'd say yes."

**Madge**

We got Katniss and Gale's families settled and they're looking over some pamphlets with things like where to eat and when and all that, but I'm in no rush to do that. Instead Katniss, Gale and Glimmer are showing me around in person,

"Is this district color coordinated or something? Do we just live in gray sector or something?" I wonder out loud.

"Nope. The whole damned thing is gray. Every wall, every floor, every ceiling, ever meal." Gale replies.

"Every meal?"

"The food here is um… It isn't food. It's some weird goop made from science shit instead of animals."

Sounds me wish I'd brought some of the spare food from the house by the lake with me. Not that they'd have let me keep it, I'm sure. Once we were on the hovercraft we were all searched and they confiscated my gun and knife and the gun I'd given to Prim.

"You can't just hunt up some real food?" I ask.

"Well, yeah, about that. We can't actually get outside, see." Gale answers.

"Why not?"

"We aren't allowed."

"You aren't allowed outside? Why not?"

"No one is apparently. Beetee said there might be some ways to sneak out, but we haven't found any yet."

"Ways to sneak out? What do you mean?"

"Beetee said it's illegal, but there might be ways to sneak out of the district. We're figuring some lost or forgotten door or something." Katniss explains.

"But you can't find anything like that you said? Where'd you look?"

"Um, around." Gale answers. "You know, went down some gray corridors, opened some gray doors, that sort of thing."

"My dad had a hidden office in the basement. I'd think some forgotten door might be the same. You know, areas normal people don't go in, stuff like where they make power and deal with the water and that sort of thing."

"That makes sense." Glimmer agrees. "We didn't find stuff like that yet, but we haven't looked everywhere either. That stuff's probably way underground, we can start there. Oh, we did find a gym though, can actually stay in shape."

"Well that's something at least." I actually was starting to get kind of good at the stuff Glimmer was teaching at the end. It's a lot more fun once that starts to happen.

"I tried to get you a souvenir glaive from the arena but some jerk on the hovercraft stole it. I think it's the same jerk who drugged us…"

"They drugged all of you?"

"Yeah, to surgically remove our trackers. Apparently telling us in advance or asking us was just plain too much trouble for these people."

"They don't seem big on asking shit." Gale agrees.

"What about getting out of the district and stuff at the house by the lake? Did all that go ok?" Katniss changes the subject.

"The house was fine, Prim, Rory and I brought plenty of supplies there in advance. Lot of the time we spent there everyone kept busy cleaning and fixing the place up."

"Got there ok and all?"

"Hazelle was really hard to convince to come with us. Oh, and I broke one of your front windows, sorry Katniss."

"What? You broke one of my windows? How come?"

"The alarm on your house armed and locked all the doors before we could get out. I'm guessing whoever was listening in to the bugs guessed we were going to make a run for it and tried to stop us."

"Oh, well that's a good reason. My house probably burnt down anyway." Katniss sounds a bit upset about that. I think she started to really think of that place as home, even if she said she never would.

"What about getting out of the district after that; any problems?" Glimmer wants to know.

"We ran into a Peacekeeper when we had to go on the real roads." I'm still conflicted about that night. On the one hand, I was taught killing is bad. It's one of the worst things you can do, in fact. But if I hadn't I'd be dead, along with Katniss and Gale's entire families. I'm not sure if I feel bad about it not; I'm not sure if I should feel bad or not.

"And?"

"And I tried talking our way past him. It didn't work though."

"So you acted." Glimmer supplies evenly.

"Yeah. I had a knife with me, a kitchen knife from Katniss' house. Oh, sorry, they confiscated that, Katniss. So I guess you're out a window and a knife. Anyway, I played like a helpless girl, got close and used the knife to slit his throat."

"And he never saw it coming. Guys almost always underestimate girls. So did it work? Any problems?"

"No, it worked fine. I'm not sure if he died right away or not, I didn't know what to do if he didn't die right away though. My knife wasn't going to cut through Peacekeeper armor."

"Ah, ok. You could have snapped his neck. I'll show you how later. I have to teach everyone improvised weapons too."

"What are improvised weapons?" Gale asks, sounding interested.

"Using everyday objects you find in an average house or room or whatever and making them into weapons. It's not a big focus at the academy, but I always thought it was cool just because of how creative it is, and since we're unarmed here, it'll be useful."

"Sounds fun." Gale replies without the irony you might expect there.

I'm not sure I'd personally call it fun, but I do agree it's something that'll be good to learn. I don't know much about District 13 (despite being an unofficial part of the rebellion for a while), but what I hear isn't encouraging.

Katniss, Gale and Glimmer aren't making any real effort to live inside the rules here, that's obvious. I haven't been here long, but this place doesn't have the vibe of a place that will tolerate that for too long. I suppose Haymitch and whoever runs this place will want me to keep an eye on Katniss, Gale and Glimmer, let them know before they go too far. Too bad I picked my side already, and it doesn't involve spying on my friends anymore.

**Prim**

I barely had time to look around my room before someone was here to rush me off to the infirmary. Along the way they ask me all about what sort of healing I did back in 12, how much I know, how much I did versus what my mom did, that sort of thing.

I tell them my mom knows more than me, but I've been doing more and more. Sometimes she isn't up for work so I have to do everything. I'm not totally sure, but I think they're figuring I'm a real doctor.

I didn't used to think there was much difference between a doctor and a healer, but since I've watched more TV in our Victor's Village house (we get a ton more channels on the TV there) I've seen that doctors have real training, access to all sorts of machines and go to school for years and years before they can be called that. It's sort of flattering they think I'm a doctor (and they seem real impressed that I supposedly am at my age), but I'm kind of worried they're going to expect me to do real doctor stuff, do big surgery and all that sort of thing. I don't have a clue how any of that works. I can put in stitches, not transplant organs.

They lead me to a changing room in the infirmary and give me some clothes to change into. I know they're called scrubs (thanks to the TV) and I change into them. They're a pretty ugly shade of green, but it's still better than the terribly gray everyone else here seems to wear. At least this way I won't mess up my regular clothes. I brought plenty from home, which is good, because I don't see them getting replaced by anything that isn't gray and ugly when they wear out. If I outgrow them though, then I think I'll be stuck.

Once I'm changed they give me a tablet and a long, long explanation of how it works, how to request drugs, how to document dosages given, patients that receive them, how to leave orders for nurses to administer them and about a million other forms.

They tell me the tablet has a list of drugs and how much I'm allowed to prescribe and will automatically check for reactions with other drugs a patient is on, but that's about it about for what I'll actually be prescribing. I guess they figure my (nonexistent) doctor training covered all that?

I don't know, but I'm sort of worried. Sure, since Katniss became a Victor and we had money we could buy a lot of real drugs and not just rely on whatever herbs Katniss and Gale could gather, but I'm no expert on them.

They show me how to use my fingerprint to log into my tablet, and once it recognizes me (Doctor Primrose Everdeen) they point me in a direction and tell me to go to it. The tablet tells me my first patient is in bed 112 so I go and try to find them.

I step into some sort of ward or intake area or something and can't help but stop just inside the door. Everywhere I look there are people covered in burns. horrible, vicious, angry burns, burnt flesh, scorched muscle, even charred bone, it's visible everywhere. I don't know how many people are in here, dozens at least, and I've seen every one of them before. They're all from District 12.

Over the years I've learned to put my emotions aside when I have to. They're great and all, but at times like this they get in the way. Right now I have a job to do, and it's at bed 112. Unfortunately, I have no idea where that is. I look down at the tablet and look for a name (Odds are I know whoever it is) but there isn't one, just a patient ID number. Looking for patient 324Z98A isn't going to work too well I don't think.

Well this isn't going well. I see a passing nurse and try to get her attention, but calling out to her isn't working well. Apparently calling out "Nurse? Nurse!" doesn't carry much weight here. All right, time to be more assertive.

I reach out and grab the arm of the closest nurse.

"Hey, let me go!" she yells, turning to look at me. "Oh, you must be one of the new doctors, I'm sorry. What can I do for you?"

Well now we're getting somewhere. Apparently nice doesn't get results in 13, action does. "I'm looking for bed 112."

The nurse directs me and is actually sort of nice about it. Doctors outrank nurses, after all.

I don't really know the patient in bed 112. I'm sure I've seen them around the district, but I have no idea what their name is. It's a woman, blonde, so probably a townie, and she's covered in burns. Most of them aren't severe, and would heal on their own if it were just a few, but it looks like she's about half covered in burns. Worse still, a few aren't just your average burns, they're deep, skin that's long gone, muscle that's charred and in one place I can even see damaged bone.

She's conscious, but in so much pain she's really only moaning. All right, first thing to do, sedate the poor woman. I start trying to find sedatives in my tablet, and that part at least isn't hard. Once I find the section the tablet starts asking me questions. Some make sense like the patient's height and weight (I guess), their condition, but they just keep going. What is the patient's level of pain? Ok, I can see that. What is their job though? How critically are they needed back at work? What's that got to do with anything?

I try skipping the stupid questions, but the tablet won't let me. Eventually I resort to just making stuff up for a lot of them. At home I'd just give this poor woman some morphling and that'd be it. I finally finish fighting that stupid tablet and I realize twenty minutes have passed. And on top of that, all I've done is order something so the woman won't be awake, I haven't done a thing for her burns!

My tablet's making an angry noise, so I look down at it. It's telling me my allotted time with this patient has expired and I am now required to move on to patient 724O17Q in bed 147. What the heck? I try to get rid of the message and getting something to treat this poor woman's burn but the tablet won't let me. Stupid piece of junk.

I keep trying, but after another minute or two it makes more angry noises and a new message pops up. The tablets tells me it has detected I have not moved to my next patient and if I do not do so in the next 60 seconds it will alert my supervisor to initiate disciplinary action. I didn't even know I had a supervisor. And what kind of disciplinary action can a tablet take?

This thing's just a fancy portable TV. I saw what Glimmer did to ours back in 12. I totally get the urge now, and I absolutely want to break this worthless piece of junk. Unfortunately I can't. I don't know what will happen, and this stupid thing is probably the only thing that can help these patients.

I put my violent urges aside, like I do my emotions (the violent urges are harder to do that with though) and get going for bed 147, which the tablet helpfully draws me a map to. It seems to know exactly where I am and has no problem giving me directions. I wish it'd done it in the first place. Who knows, maybe the clock was running while I was looking for my first patient. maybe if I'd found them faster I could have had time to order some actual treatment for them.

I don't know if it'll always be like this, but if this is what it means to be a doctor maybe being a healer isn't what I want to do with my life after all.

**Finnick**

I spend my days lying around in a hospital bed now. I'm missing a kidney and the hole in my back where Flash's sword and later the surgeon's knives entered is apparently an infection risk so I'm not allowed to leave. No, because of the infection risk I get to stay in a hospital, watching IVs full of antibiotics slowly drip into me and stare at a TV showing the dreary, oppressive District 13 version of entertainment.

There's biographies of the district's glorious leader, President Alma Coin, stories of District 13's brave struggle after they ditched the other districts (or as they put it, the hard choice to survive rather than stay with a doomed cause), all sorts of shows glorifying the state and things like that. It's all so obvious I think calling it propaganda is too subtle.

Fortunately, Haymitch decides to visit and brighten my day. Yes, I'm so far gone that I'm actually glad to see Haymitch. It's sad, I know.

"How's hospital life treatin' ya?" he greets.

"I'm drugged up, I have a huge hole in my back that goes through to the front and I've got nothing to do all day long. How's it sound?"

"Someone's a bad patient."

"How's being a drunk treating you?" Haymitch has always been the sort that you can trade good natured insults with. This one though, it looks like I actually hit a sore spot.

"Did you know this district is dry?"

"What do you mean dry?"

"I mean no booze! Not one fucking drop. None. No booze anywhere in the whole damned district."

"Damn. Are you ok?" It sounds stupid, but I've known heavy drinkers before. After all, boats and alcohol just seem to go together for most people. If you drink as much as Haymitch does, for as long as he has then quit cold turkey it can go bad.

"Do I fucking look ok?" I take a good long look at Haymitch and you know, he really looks bad. Haymitch is sweating, practically sweating through his clothes, he can't seem to stand still and he looks green.

"Actually, you look worse than me."

"I brought some booze from the Capitol; they have the good shit there and all. I figured I'd just take their stuff and it'd be like it was back in 12. You can't get the top shelf stuff, but I could afford all the home made crap I wanted. Instead all I had was the bottles I took, and those are basically gone."

"You couldn't ration or something?"

"I tried damn it! You don't think I thought of that already? Of course I did. But it's not like one glass and I'm cool, you know? So I had to drink a lot to get it to work and now I'm basically out."

"Oh, sorry man." What else am I supposed to say? "Is it really as bad as it looks?"

"It's worse. I can't sleep, but I know that'll pass and when I do it's going to be fucking terrible. I've tried to pass out every night for years. When I don't it's bad." I don't need to ask what he means; every Victor knows. "Now and then I'm seeing shit too. I know it's not real, but it's still there. I don't know if that shit will go away or if sometime I won't be able to tell that shit is fake."

Damn, poor bastard. I don't think he wants to dwell, and there's something a lot more important to me than Haymitch's DT's.

"Any word about Annie?"

"Yeah, you're in luck there; 13 picked her up just now. Actually that's why I'm here. Oh, that and to tell you you're gonna need a new boat."

"A new boat? What the hell? What's wrong with the boat I already own?"

"We couldn't get her out in the district, so we figured the best way to get her away from Peacekeepers and shit was for her to take your boat out to sea. So she hopped in, drove like twenty five miles off shore and the hovercraft picked her up there. Your boat's all abandoned and shit in the middle of nowhere now."

"Annie's all right and she's on her way here, that's all that matters." Boats can be replaced, even nice ones. Besides, everyone in 4 knows my boat, there's a decent chance someone will see it adrift and tow it in for me.

"What about the rebellion then, how's that going?"

"About like you'd expect. Rebellions where we've been organizing, nothing in the places we didn't. It's just the opening moves though, it'll get more interesting later on."

"And your kids? They happy movie stars and all that?"

Haymitch snorts. "They didn't even think I was serious when I asked."

"You know once they realize you are it's not going to go any better."

"Yeah, well too damned bad for them. Everyone has a part to play here, and people need to grow the fuck up learn their place and deal with reality."

"Like the reality of no booze?"

Haymitch gives me a bloodshot glare. Damn, he really does look like crap. "I don't need this shit. Your wife will be here later today; you can save your charming personality for her."

**Gale**

Now that Madge is back with us we're heading to see what kind of training facilities they have. Just sort of would have felt weird practicing and all that without her. We found a training area yesterday, so we don't need to wander around today.

The first door in this training area is labeled Training Room 1 (wow, these District 13 people sure are creative when it comes to naming stuff.) Inside is basically a big gym. There's a ring for sparring, a few wooden practice weapons (not nearly as many as we used back in 12), some fancy looking exercise equipment to simulate things like rowing and climbing stairs, and near the ceiling a big running track.

"Let's just hang here and check out the competition." Glimmer suggests. There's some people from 13 here working out, so sure, I'm game to see what they can do.

The locals are in workout clothes, not the usual jump suits. They're also gray (of course), but at least you can see the person underneath now.

"Is it me or are they kind of…" Katniss starts.

"Scrawny." Madge finishes.

They're right. The people from 13 aren't what I'd call malnourished; they certainly don't look like the half starved people that you'd see in the seam, but they definitely aren't athletic either. It's like they're just healthy enough to not be sickly, but no way I'd call them in good shape. "Yeah, they are. What's up with that?"

"Looks almost like malnutrition." Glimmer comments. "Like they get enough to not be sick and crippled, but nothing more."

"Yeah, look at them running on the track." Madge points out.

I look up and yeah, there are some 13 guys up there running, but it's almost painful to watch. They're running at a painfully slow pace and struggling to even do that; no strength and no endurance.

"They look worse than we did that first day we went running with Glimmer." Katniss says with some surprise.

"These don't look like kids just starting training either. Is this the best they can do in 13?" Jesus, this is the rebellion right here, in front of us?

"If we keep eating that food are we going to turn into this too?"

"No way. I won't ever let that happen. I didn't work on this body for so many years to just fade away to that." There's real conviction to Glimmer's voice.

"Look at them fight." Madge points to the ring. "I could take them."

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Glimmer asks.

"Well, you've been at this practically all your life, like you said. Katniss and Gale have had to hunt and be strong for their families for years. I'm just a girl who didn't stand out except for who my dad was. I'm just not in the same league as any of you."

"That's not true, Madge." Katniss insists.

"Yeah, you weren't anything impressive at the start, but you stuck with it and actually could hold your own. You could have handled being in that arena with us." It's true, really. The girl had no business being with us at the start, but she actually not bad now. Hell, she killed a Peacekeeper. None of the rest of us can claim that.

"They're right, Madge." Glimmer agrees. "Whatever you were at the start, that's not who you are now."

We've seen enough of the locals so get started with our own workout. There aren't nearly as many weapons to spar with as we had in 12, and running endless laps on the little elevated tracks is a lot more boring than running outside, but we do ok.

The people from 13 leave us alone. Actually, more than just leave us alone, anytime they see us going anywhere near them they move away. Not that I mind; staying out of our way is the nicest thing anyone from 13 has done for us since we got here.

After a while, I notice the locals aren't really doing their own thing so much as watching us. At first I think they're curious, but the looks start to change. Now they're looking at us with awe.

Yeah, we're stronger than them and can run faster and go longer than them, but so what. Try eating some actual food. The pasty losers here might grow some muscle and then they could do more than just stare; like that'll happen.

**Author's Notes:**

This story's getting quite a good reception; I really appreciate it. Like always I'll thank that-fan who's helped me with so much on this.

I've gotten a lot of reviews, and I'm delighted. It's always great to hear from readers and know people have a reaction to what I write, so please, keep it coming. Thanks a lot.


	4. Gale Groundhog

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Hunger Games and am making no money from this.

This story, like most Hunger Games stories I've read will be told from various points of view. As normal, I'll note when they change.

** Glimmer**

Madge figured some forgotten exit would be in an industrial area like some power generator room or water treatment or things like that. Our best guess is that they'd keep that sort of thing at the bottom of the district, so that's where we're looking.

We took elevators all the way down, but didn't find anything, so we looked for stair cases; turns out you can take those lower. More floors than buttons in the to love a district where even the elevators lie.

This level's different from the one we live on. Where we live it's big hallways that are all clean, straight lines and it's obviously meant for a lot of people. Down here the hallways are smaller and there's pipes and electrical conduits everywhere on the walls and ceiling. The other difference is people: there are almost none down here. A lot of those little robot things ferrying around crates, but almost no one with a pulse.

"Certainly empty down here."Katniss comments.

"I wonder if they have cameras." Madge asks.

Damn, that's a good question. If this was a Capitol facility I'm sure there would be. These people seem like control freaks that might have cameras everywhere too though. So does that mean all our exploration is recorded, every time we go into some place we shouldn't someone is keeping score and we'll pay for it later?

"If they do we're probably fucked already. Not a lot of point in worrying about it now." Gale states.

"Beetee might know. We can ask him about it at dinner tonight." Well, Katniss' plan beats just going back to our rooms and giving up.

There's a lot less doors here, and the hallways seem to go forever. I'm not sure how far we are from where we started; hundreds of yards at least, maybe a half a mile or more. We've found huge rooms full of weird machines, lots and lots of those. Some are big electrical things, others look like mazes built out of pipe, but all look old.

"Just curious, anyone seen anything down here that's younger than we are?" I ask.

"No, all the equipment here looks original." Madge replies.

"Original? You mean from before the first rebellion?"

"Yeah. Actually, it makes sense if you think about it. The districts are all specialized, which means they need each other. 13's been on its own for seventy five years. That means no one who knew how to design or build this stuff for that long."

"So if some of this shit breaks they'd be fucked." Gale points out.

"Well, if they didn't have Beetee." Katniss adds.

"So that's why they put him to work right away."

"So he wasn't just to handle the break out; they need him because they're afraid their district will fall apart and they'll be left with no power or water or something like that one day." Explains why we aren't their top priority I guess.

We keep looking through this level, checking every wall of the huge rooms full of equipment. It's a pain in the butt looking behind it all (and some of those stupid pipes are hot) but in the end it's worth it.

Madge finds an ancient looking locked metal door behind some big piece of equipment (a boiler? I don't know, but that's as good a word as any. So yeah, behind a boiler.) The door's painted shut, and the latches holding it closed are partly rusted in place. It takes a lot of force, but after almost a half hour we finally do it.

The air on the other side of the door is heavy and stale; it's easy to believe it's been trapped there for the better part of a century. There's no light on the far side of the door, but enough streams in from behind us to see a staircase. We're at the bottom floor, and the ones above are filled with blackness.

"I don't suppose anyone knows where we can get a flashlight?" Madge asks. "I never got my camping gear back,"

"I think we'll have to ask Beetee; he's about the only person who's talking to us and actually helps." Gale suggests. "For now, though, let's close this up. It'll be time to eat soon, after all."District 13's an anal place; if you miss your assigned meal time you go without.

For all the effort it took to open the door, it closes up with no problem. It's a long walk back to the dining hall, but we make it in time. Actually, more than just in time, we make it just a few minutes after the place opens.

We're here before anyone we know, so we just grab an empty table and sit. Madge is going through the same experience as we did when we first saw this food, poking at it, trying to figure out what it is, what it'll taste like, all that kind of fun.

"Before you ask, that's all they have, every single meal." Katniss offers.

"And it's about as bad as you're thinking." Gale adds.

"Oh joy." Madge sighs.

Madge is still considering her options when Prim collapses in a chair at our table. The girl looks terrible, as bad as I've ever seen her. She just seems absolutely defeated.

"Prim, what's wrong?" Katniss asks.

"Work at the infirmary: it's terrible."

"Why, what happened? Did they treat you bad or something?"

That's one line this district won't be allowed to cross. Bad food, bad colors, ok, I can at least try to live with that. But I like Prim; as far as I'm concerned she's family, and if these bastards mistreat her I'm going to make them suffer, and I know I won't be alone either.

"It's not really that they treated me bad, Katniss."

"What, then, just not take you seriously?"

"Actually they decided as far as they're concerned I'm a full fledged doctor."

"Wow, Prim, that's great." Katniss smiles at her little sister.

"No it's not! I hate it. Being a doctor is terrible. I never want to go back there."

"Why? What happened?"

"It was packed, all people from 12 covered in burns. But I couldn't really do much for them. There's not much medicine to give out, and any time I tried I had to justify it to this tablet they gave me, and that took forever. And if I ever took too long on a patient the tablet would just cut me off and threaten me if I didn't move on. And then at the end of the day I had to do all kinds of paperwork. It took me two hours. All day long, I filled out forms and barely did a thing to help anymore."

"Your tablet threatened you? As in a little tablet computer?"Seriously? How does a tablet threaten anyone? I don't get it.

"It said it would alert my supervisor, whoever that is and initiate disciplinary action. I have no idea what that means either."

"But you helped some people, so that's good, right?" Katniss tries comforting her sister.

"Barely. I didn't have the time or the medicine to really help anyone. Most of what I did was fill out forms so whoever's in charge could claim people were helped. I thought being a doctor would be like helping people back home, just with more training and resources. But it isn't. It's just filling out forms and pretending to help. I hate it, Katniss. I really do."

"What do you want to do instead, Prim?" Gale asks. Good question.

"I don't know. I've only ever thought of being a healer. I never thought it'd turn out to be something I hate so much."

I feel bad for Prim. I know exactly what it's like to dedicate your life to something and when you get there, it turns out to be nothing like you expected. It's a bad feeling; it makes you wonder if you wasted your entire life even. I don't think I wasted my life, even with all that happened with becoming a Victor I still don't think I'd have done things different. A normal life just isn't for me.

Prim though, I'm not sure she'll come to the same conclusions I did. She just looks so defeated, I think she's going to change it up somehow. I don't know how, and I'm really not one for giving career advice, but I know something has to change for her.

We can't comfort Prim or offer her any advice at the moment, because Haymitch joins us. I glance over and see he looks bad, even by his usual standards. The man looks about as bad as Katniss, Gale and Madge did that first day in 12 when I took them all on a five mile run. His clothes are soaked in sweat, he looks feverish and his eyes seem to dart around now and then.

"All right you three listen up." Well, nice of him to totally ignore Madge and Prim. "I need you three at the recording studio first thing in the morning. We want to start shooting propos. If we hurry, we can get some edited and ready to go by tomorrow night."

"Since when did we agree to that crap?" Gale frowns.

"I agreed for you."

"Oh, well I'm sold then!"

"Listen here, kid, it's time to stop this with this attitude of yours and grow the fuck up. We went through a lot of trouble to get you here, we entertained you fucking requests for special treatment for your families, now it's time for you all to do your part."

"So give us some weapons, fly us to whatever district you like, drop us off somewhere out of the way and we'll give you a call once we're done there." I order evenly.

"Not how it works, princess. You all are too valuable to risk in the field."

"Yeah, Glimmer. These guys are the combat experts, not people like us who've actually been doing it." Gale mocks.

"Yeah, you can lose that attitude now." Haymitch frowns.

"Look, asshole. I didn't ask to come here, and I damn sure didn't ask to be on TV. But if you think you can keep us in the dark forever and then just makes us do random meaningless shit you're dreaming."

"Propaganda's very important. We need to districts to support us or this rebellion won't get very damned far at all."

"You want the rebellion to get somewhere? Let us do what we've trained for and fight, not this fake crap." I frown. I'll be damned if all those years of hard work wind me up in some lame made-for-TV movie. No way.

"Not in the cards. The people in charge will not allow it, so you might as well stop asking. And all your training doesn't matter. You can go to whatever battle you like and maybe win, but the right propo can inspire people all over Panem. You can reach more people and make a bigger difference here in the studio. It's the smart play, and it's what we're going to do."

"Oh yeah, because all you need to win a war is a catchy slogan. Forget killing mother fuckers, a catchy tune people remember, that's where it's at." Gale's patience is about up. But maybe I can have a bit of fun before it's totally gone.

"Well sure, Gale, think about it. Katniss and I can dress up in sexy cheerleader outfits and we can have you in a cute groundhog costume. We'll cheer you on while you come out of your hole, look for your shadow and tell us if we'll have six more weeks of Capitol rule." I smile sweetly.

Katniss, Madge and Prim try hard not to break up giggling, but are only partly successful.

"I'm not dressing as any damned groundhog." Gale frowns.

Haymitch shakes his head and grumbles, but he takes the hint and decides to eat somewhere else.

"Awe, Gale Groundhog would be so cute." Prim smiles at Gale.

"Not gonna happen."

"Now now, Prim, we shouldn't bother poor Gale too much." Madge turns to Katniss. "So, I hear you and Glimmer have been making out?"

Prim breaks up giggling and I'd be lying if I said I didn't do the same.

"W…what? What are you talking about?" Katniss is turning this hilarious shade of red.

"That conversation was broadcast, Katniss."

"Of course it was." Katniss mutters.

"Yeah, we were totally right." Prim smiles at Madge. "Katniss has a thing for Glimmer too, it's not just Gale anymore."

"So is Glimmer a good kisser?"

"Can we talk about this some other time?" Katniss pleads.

"Sure, when?"

Katniss doesn't have a good answer to that. It's always fun when people try to duck something to put it right back on them. I didn't know Madge enjoyed that sort of thing though. Actually she seems to be teasing more than before. As miserable and oppressive as this place is, Madge at least is doing well here.

"Maybe she has nothing to compare to?" Prim suggests. "Maybe she should try making out with Gale and then see." Hey, wait a minute now! Gale looks like he's a fan of that idea but I don't know if I'm ok with it.

Fortunately Beetee joins us before that idea can get any further. "Good evening all. Two new guests, I see."

"This is Katniss' little sister Prim, and Madge, who trained with us back in 12." I introduce. Yeah, I'm not letting the subject linger on Katniss comparison shopping.

"Ah, a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Beetee, from District 3."

"Hey, Beetee, we found something we need your help with." Gale wastes no time.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, on the bottom engineering level of this place, we found this old rusted, painted over door. We got it open and saw this dark staircase inside, but there's no lights in there and we didn't have any flashlights. That something you can help with?"

"So you actually found something? Excellent, it stood to reason such a thing would exist, but I didn't actually have any proof. If you could all meet me on the engineering level tomorrow morning I think I can be of help, yes."

So it looks like we have a plan for tomorrow, good. But before that, there's one plan I'd like to take care of today. I get Katniss, Gale and Madge's attention and tell each in our silent language _Don't leave. Let the others leave the table first._

They all nod to me (like there was any doubt. We always back each other's plays.) Eventually we finish eating (Madge decided to skip starvation) and Prim and Beetee head off. Katniss, Gale and Madge look to me. "When you put your trays away, grab a knife off another one. Make sure it's not from one of our trays, just in case they're counting our silverware."

"A weapon?" Gale asks.

"Yeah, it's not much, but if we get it out we can sharpen it against a piece of concrete so we've got some sort of weapon at least."

With the plan set we all head up and put our used trays away. Each one of us in turn swipes a knife of one of the other trays waiting to be cleaned and sneaks them out. Nobody taught any of us how to smoothly steal something or to palm a knife, but we get away with it just the same. Either no one's watching or we're sneakier than I though. Whichever it is, a little while with a piece of concrete I'm not afraid to mark up and I'll have a knife I can use in a fight.

Soon I'll have a weapon in my hand, Madge is here, the families from 12 are here, it's good progress. My family's still not here, but once they get here we can actually try and figure out what we're going to do. Because damned if I'm going to spend my life doing moronic TV commercials.

**Madge**

Today we're meeting Beetee and hopefully exploring whatever's behind that old door we found. We're skipping breakfast (a popular decision) and going straight down to get started. We're also skipping our workout and practice, but some sacrifices have to be made. If it gets us to the surface where Katniss and Gale can hunt us up some real food it's time well spent.

We find Beetee waiting for us just outside the staircase to the bottom level. "Good morning." he greets us, a large satchel over one shoulder. "I believe we have something to look at?"

"Yeah, come on." Gale takes the lead.

When we reach the door Beetee takes out a flashlight from his satchel for each of us. "I know you all must be eager to reach the surface but I think we should explore each floor as we ascend."

"Why?" Katniss asks.

"There may well be more here than simply a route to the outside. I particularly would like to find some of the mechanical spaces."

"Sure, if you say so." Gale agrees. Actually, I'm fine with it; exploring this place might be fun.

We're just starting to head up the staircase when I hear a high pitched noise coming from Beetee's direction. I look over and see a tablet in his hand apparently making the noise, and on the screen it looks like a little map is appearing.

"You've got a map of this place?" I wonder out loud.

"No, this map is being dynamically generated. The noise you're hearing is an echo location module, similar to sonar. It measures how long the noise it generates takes to echo back and from what direction and then from that data continuously generates a map as we explore."

"Wow." I'm impressed, even if I have no idea what that sonar thing Beetee mentioned is. "You invented that?"

"Yes, I did. It actually wasn't that hard, more adapting ancient technology than anything, but I appreciate the compliment just the same."

It turns out exploring this place really is a lot of fun. I'm not sure if it's weird of me to think so or if anyone would have fun in my place, but either way I'm really enjoying myself. I'm with my friends, we're having an adventure, it's really a good day as far as I'm concerned.

On the lowest level we found the electrical room, which Beetee seemed real excited about. He spent a long time looking at every piece of gear and making a lot of notes in his little tablet.

"What's with all the tablet stuff?" Glimmer wants to know.

"I'm making notes on the condition of the electrical system and creating a list of required equipment."

"What, you think all this stuff can be fixed?"

"Well not all, but it may be possible to restore some power to this facility."

"Doesn't this place need to be connected to power plants or something?" Gals asks.

"To be fully operational, yes. But that isn't my goal. I'm merely seeking to turn on a few lights, maybe provide power to an outlet or two."

"The power still has to come from somewhere though, doesn't it?"

"Quite so. A generator from storage in District 13 should suffice for the task."

"You can just plug a modern generator into all this old stuff?"

"You've been on the train, Gale; you've seen how vast Panem truly is. It's filled with ruins. In fact we just escaped an entire city in ruins. It's not at all inconceivable that in the course of a rebellion people might need to take refuge in old ruins and it would be advantageous to be able to restore power to them. So there are adapters to connect our power generation to the old electrical systems."

"That's handy. You invent that stuff too?"

"Actually no, this is an invention of District 13. Once they were cut off from the Capitol all they had available to them was the old systems they found here, so they had to invent ways to make use of them."

Well lights certainly would make it easier to get around this place, but I think it'd be a lot less fun to explore. It really does feel like an abandoned ruin, a place that totally has the feel of something no one's laid eyes on for decades. With the lights on it'd just be a bunch of rooms mainly full of dirt and rubble.

As we progress further towards the surface we find a lot of this place is inaccessible; collapsed tunnels mainly, but quite a few locked doors are in the way too. The more I see of this place the more I'm starting to think there was a battle here. Some of the caved in areas look scorched, like something exploded, and I swear I see bullet holes in some of the walls here.

Is that why so many of these doors are locked? Did people make their last stands just on the other side of them? Are there bodies there? I'm having fun exploring this place, but that's stuff I don't really need to see.

The one thing I did like finding was on one of the top floors: a library. The books are ancient and not in great shape, but if you're careful you can still open and read them. We don't have time to look at what all the books are today, never mind read any, but this is absolutely a room I'll be returning to.

Finally we find what we're looking for: the surface. We first see the outside through some windows (mostly broken) and right away Gale rushes for the door helpfully labeled 'Exit'

"Gale, wait!" Beetee yells.

"What? Why?"

"You can't go out there."

"Why not? This is what we were looking for."

"Yes, it is, but you cannot go outside."

"No offense Beetee, but I'm gonna need a little more than that."

"Gale, District 13 has a great deal many surveillance systems monitoring the surface. If you go outside now it'll trigger alarms and all this will have been for nothing."

"So all this was a waste of time?"

"No, it was not a waste of time. There are ways to deal with this, but it will take time. Give me until tomorrow and I should have a solution."

"A solution as in we can actually go outside, not just look at it?"

"Hopefully so, yes."

"Better than Haymitch has done for us lately." Glimmer mutters.

"I can imagine you're not happy with him and the plan for the propos, but you should cut him some slack, Glimmer." Beetee answers.

"Why?"

"Yeah, he never tells us a thing, he lets us just face everything with no idea of what's going on or why and then just orders us to do dumb crap and gets pissy if we don't agree." Gale adds.

"Haymitch has always been paranoid; he knows firsthand what Snow can do after all. Beyond that, I suspect alcohol withdrawal plays a large part in his recent behavior."

"Alcohol withdrawal? That why he looks so bad lately?"

"Yes. Among 13's other rules is a ban on alcohol, you see."

"Ok, that's got to suck for him. still doesn't excuse all his crap though."Sounds like Haymitch hasn't exactly been making friends.

**Prim**

I'm sitting down for dinner after my second day as an official doctor. Katniss, Gale, Glimmer and Madge are already here eating.

"Things any better today, Prim?" Katniss asks once the obligatory greetings are out of the way.

"More of the same."

"Ah, that's too bad."

"I'm just watching most of these poor people die. So many of them are burnt so bad they just have no chance."

"Why don't they have a chance?" Gale asks.

"People who are burnt bad enough are real prone to infection. Normally I'd isolate them; you know, have as them in their own rooms with as few people coming in as possible."

"And you can't do that here?"

"Apparently not. They're keeping everyone from 12 in huge rooms with dozens of people in each one. I asked about moving people and was told no."

"Can you just give them a lot of antibiotics?" Madge suggests.

"Antibiotics will help, yeah, but it's not really an answer. See, these people will just keep getting one infection after another and they aren't strong enough, even with the antibiotics to keep fighting them off. Also, honestly, well… I don't think they're going to allow many antibiotics here."

"What do you mean they won't allow much?" Gale cuts in.

"When I prescribe drugs there's a lot of questions I have to answer. Some make sense others are basically how important the person it's for actually is. They either don't want to use a lot of drugs or just plain don't have a lot. If I had to guess I'd say everyone will get one shot at antibiotics and if they get another infection they're on their own."

"It sure isn't like 12, that's for sure." Madge agrees. Madge and I have only been here for two days, Gale Katniss and Glimmer for three more; I don't think a single one of us is very happy here.

Gale's Mom,. Hazelle picks that time to sit down and join us. Gale's brothers and sister aren't with her though.

"Hi, Ma." Gale greets her. "Where's all the kids?"

"They're at school."

"What? It's five or six in the evening? How can they still be in school?"

"That's how it is in 13, Gale. School starts at six in the morning and runs until eight at night. They eat breakfast, lunch and dinner there; they basically just come home to sleep."

"Just what do they do there all day long?"

"I have no idea, Gale. We weren't offered an explanation or a choice; we were told that's how it is and the kids are expected to attend."

"I've actually heard of something like this." Madge offers.

"You have? Where?" Gale wants to know.

"In some of the old books my dad let me read; the stuff dating from before Panem."

"Ok, so you know what they do there?"

Madge hesitates a bit before answering. "The short answer is that it's indoctrination, Gale. It's basically removing kids from their parents, breaking up the whole idea of family and replacing it with one of communal stuff. You know, instead of just brothers and sisters they're all together as one big group, and instead of parents it's the government, the state that they look up to."

"Are you fucking serious?"

"Language, Gale." Hazelle frowns at her oldest son.

"Sorry, Ma. But this is…" Gale stops himself before he can use another curse word. "This isn't cool at all. Why would they even do this?"

"Well, it's all about loyalty and, well control." Madge answers. "Look at how loyal you and Katniss are to your families, Gale. It's a lot stronger than any loyalty you feel to a government, and some governments don't like that. They'd want you loyal to them and them alone."

"Doesn't occur to them to try and actually earn loyalty?"

"From what I've read most government don't tend to think that way, Gale."

"They should."

"I certainly won't argue otherwise."

"So you sure that this is what's going on here, Madge?"

"No, I'm not, Gale. I'm guessing here, a guess based on an ancient book. But I can't think of what else it could be."

I guess they read the same old book Madge did. Come to think of it, at my age I should be in that school too. Obviously being a doctor isn't all bad.

Any more talk of school is cut off when Haymitch sits down. I don't have a problem with him, but everyone else really obviously does. "I've got some news." he announces.

"My parents?" Glimmer looks at him expectantly.

"Um, no, afraid not. Close though. Johanna Mason's awake. Thought you all might want to know, go visit her or something."

"You all want to bring her flowers maybe?" Madge asks.

"Doubt they grow any here." Glimmer replies. "Besides, no stores, remember? We couldn't buy her some even if we wanted to."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I guess just go visit? Up to you all; you know her, I don't."

"Yeah, may as well. We can go after we finish eating." Gale decides.

**Gale**

The hospital's as cheerful as I remember. Just like Haymitch said, Johanna's awake in her room. They've got her lying on her stomach and her back has a bunch of bandages on it, but she really doesn't look terrible, all things considered.

"Hi you three, plus extra blonde." Johanna greets.

"I'm Madge Undersee, from 12. Well, what used to be 12."

"What, Snow threw a hissy fit or something?"

"He bombed it." Madge nods.

"Hmm, you all did mining there, right? Coal or some crap like that?"

"That's right. The dust was all over the district. We got out a little before the bombing started, but the way the sky was glowing I imagine it's all gone now."

"Well that sucks. At least you're alive though. Wait, how are you alive? You said you left early? Why the hell did you do that?"

"We warned her. She got our families out when the Games went off the air." I explain.

"Haymitch let you do that? The most paranoid drunk in all of Panem?"

"We had to threaten him."

"Damn if it didn't work though. Wait, we are in 13, right? Everyone made it and all?"

"We're in 13, yeah. Everyone made it, but Finnick's a few rooms over waiting for a new kidney. He had to have Enobaria carry him, so she's here too, in jail I think."

Hmm, I'm doing a lot of explaining here. Madge did some, ok, and Katniss never talks much, but what's the deal with Glimmer? She is still here, right? Yeah, ok, she's here, not exactly looking comfortable, but here.

_"Are you ok?"_I ask her in our silent language.

"_I'm fine."_

"_Really? You don't look fine._"

"_I said I'm fine._" Something's bothering her and she doesn't want to talk about it. God, it's like I'm dealing with Katniss here.

"What's with the looks? You two making googley eyes at each other or some shit? Don't tell me you're after my blonde, Hawthorne." Johanna glares at me.

"She's not my type."

"So what's going on then?"

"It's nothing." For the first time in my life I'm wishing Glimmer would speak up more.

"Uh . So what's going on around 13? Big rebellion shit and all that?"

"They don't really tell us much."

"They haven't even told me where my parents are." Finally, Glimmer speaks up. "All we've heard is that we're supposed to be in some sort of dumb TV commercials rather than actually fight."

"What the fuck? Not fight? Why the hell not?"

"Ask Haymitch." I shrug. "If you find out, let us know."

"Wonderful. All the crap to get here and it's a damned TV studio." Johanna looks at Glimmer. "So, blondie, they tell me I'm gonna get out of here in a day or two. You wanna hook up once I'm out?"

"Um, about that… Um, maybe you and I can talk in private for a minute?"

"Oh, my very own naughty nurse. Nice!"

Glimmer looks at the rest of us. "Can you guys give us a minute? I'll be out soon, ok?"

Whatever's bothering Glimmer I hope she and Johanna handle it here. Weird mood swings from girls is a headache I'll pass on, thanks.

**Author's Notes:**

Another chapter down, and as always my thanks to that-fan who's helped me with so much. Reviews, comments, and critiques are always welcome, so please, feel free to leave a review, I really appreciate them.


	5. Almost Like Home Again

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Hunger Games and am making no money from this.

This story, like most Hunger Games stories I've read will be told from various points of view. As normal, I'll note when they change.

**Glimmer**

I wait for Katniss, Gale and Madge to leave the room before turning to face Johanna. I'm not sure where to start here; this was easier in the academy when the people I was dealing with were just tools to be used.

Johanna isn't one for patience though. "Well, blondie? We're alone, so spill. What's got you messed up in the head there."

"Messed up in the head?"

"I saw you all quiet and crap, looking uncomfortable and all that. So what's going on?"

"You're interested in me. Just what are you looking for?" Might as well go direct, try and get this over with fast.

"What do you mean, what am I looking for?"

"Are you looking for sex or a real relationship?" If that's still too subtle then I give up.

"I could go for both, but if only the first is on the menu, well, I'll take what I can get. So, when you wanna do this?"

"Um, yeah, about that…."

Johanna looks at me for a bit. "Oh, this is a 'let me down easy' talk. Well fuck."

"Sorry. It's nothing personal, it's just, well, all the flirting and stuff, I'm just not feeling it, you know? Like there's nothing there."

"Nothing personal? This is damned definition of personal."

"Ok, fine, you got me there. Point is, I just don't feel anything for you like that."

"Is this because of the hunter chick? Or maybe the guy; I saw you two staring at each other."

"There's nothing going on between me and Katniss or Gale."

"Then what's with all the looks?"

"It's… well, we have a way to kind of communicate silently. We learned it getting ready for the last Games."

"Bullshit."

"It's the truth." Wait, why am I being defensive here? Damn it, this is bull. I'm the one in charge here; that's how I operate. "Look, believe it; don't believe it. I don't really care. Bottom line is I'm not looking for anything more than a friend and maybe a partner if we have to go out and kill Snow's people or something like that. Anything more just isn't in the cards."

Johanna looks at me quiet for a bit before losing it. "Well that just figures. So what, did I misread the signals? Was it wishful thinking? Fuck, I'm out of practice at this. You know, I actually did have real dates and all that shit; before the Games I mean. After, well, I told Snow he could take his appointments and go fuck himself and that was it for that. Family, friends, anyone who'd date me, all gone."

"Wow, I'm sorry Johanna."

"Yeah, yeah, that's life, it sucks. Every Victor has a sad story, me, you, fire girl, Haymitch, Finnick, there's seventy five Victors and seventy five sob stories. It's how it is. I fucked up, no big deal. So yeah, whatever, go with the hunter guy and fire girl and do whatever the hell they've got you doing all day long."

"Um, well, ok." Not exactly how I figured this would go; I expected a lot more yelling and swearing. Well, won't see me complaining about not being yelled at.

**Gale**

We're meeting Beetee first thing in the morning. Supposedly he'll have some way for us to get outside and not get caught doing it. Even if we get outside we'll still need something to hunt with (snares are easier, those I can rig up with stuff lying around the abandoned areas we found), but Beetee hasn't let us down yet, so I'm trying not to worry.

There's not a lot of people I trust. I don't mean trust like you trust your family and stuff (god knows I do) I mean trust like, you can bet your life that they'll get the job done. For a lot of years the list basically consisted of catnip. Of course with the Games I had to add Glimmer to that list, and the girl didn't disappoint. Madge earned her way onto that list too; I trusted my family's lives to her, and she came through.

It's time to see if Beetee makes the list. Like always, he's right on time (a good trait.) Everyone greets each other and all that stuff and then we get down to business. "So, you manage to get something together for us?" I ask.

"I believe so. But first there's some equipment I need moved. One heavy crate to the electrical room in the complex, and then four smaller containers."

"What's in the boxes?" Glimmer asks.

"The first large one is a generator. While you all are outside I plan to try and restore power to some parts of the complex. If nothing more having a few lights will make walking around far easier."

"And the four others?"

"Those are something for you four. We'll get to them once the generator is in place."

A lifetime in the Seam has taught me to hate surprises, and half a year of Snow's special attention hammered the lesson home even more. There are no good surprises, no sudden windfalls, no free lunches, no happy coincidences, just bad news, just ways you're fucked one way or another. I think I can count on one hand the number of good surprises I've seen in my life. Meeting Katniss in the woods the first time and teaming up together, and not having to die in the 75 Hunger Games is about it. So much of the 74th was a mixed bag I'm not sure I'd call it a good surprise. It had as much bad with it as it did good.

The other thing I've learned about surprises is to just suck it up. They're going to come and I usually can't do a thing about it, so I just stay quiet and hope it isn't terrible. This first crate, however, kind of is. It's taking all four of us just to lift the thing. Beetee had it sent to a storeroom not far from the entrance to that abandoned area, but that's still a bit of a walk to the electrical room.

"This thing's got to be three or four hundred pounds. Are all generators this massive?" Glimmer complains.

"For a complex this size it's needed." comes the answer.

"The rest of the stuff better be light."

The trip to the electrical room is exactly like I expected: hot and tiring. It's got to take a half hour moving this stupid box through the rubble strewn hallways with just Beetee's flashlight to see where we're going by. By the time we get back to the store room for the rest of Beetee's boxes no one's in a good mood anymore.

"These last four are considerably lighter; I expect each of you can carry one yourselves quite comfortably. I suggest we take them up to the library; it seems a suitable hub for activities. From there I'll tell you how to get outside safely and you can be on your way and I'll get to work in the electrical room."

Beetee carefully hands out the boxes (apparently it matters who gets which) and yeah, like he said, these are light. A bit bulky, but I could probably carry this thing all day if I had to. It makes for a much faster and happier trip this time.

"So what's in these things anyway?" Glimmer asks as we get to abandoned library.

"Open them and find out. They are for you, after all."

I look inside, and of all things I find a double headed axe and a set of knives. What the hell? These look like…. But they can't be, can they?

"Are these from the arena?" Katniss asks the question before I can, looking up from her familiar bow.

"That is exactly what they are." Beetee replies.

"How?" Glimmer takes a few practice swings with her sword. Besides girlie clothes I think Beetee found her favorite gift.

"Weapons development falls under my purview. As part of that I have control over the weapons you carried onto the hovercraft when we left the arena. I can't expect you to hunt unarmed, can I?"

"I don't suppose I can get the guns I had with me back, can I?" Of all of us, the first to confront a Peacekeeper was Madge friggin' Undersee. And she actually killed the bastard. Just goes to show you how fucked up and backwards this world has become.

"I don't think that's a good idea. The sound of gunfire is likely to attract unwanted attention."

"Hey, at least you get the souvenir I wanted to bring back for you." Glimmer was the one to bring the glaive onto the hovercraft after all, even after Finnick had given her the sword she prefers.

"So it sounds like you have a way for us to get to the woods then?" Weapons are great, but I want to get outside already.

"I have a tablet for you, it's linked to the District 13 perimeter security systems. I'll show you how to shut down small corridors to use. But you must remember a few things. Firstly, keep any areas shut down small, and reactivate them as soon as possible. This should go unnoticed, but if you deactivate large sections or leave things offline too long and it is bound to draw the wrong sort of attention."

"Second, you must never lose this tablet or allow anyone else to see it. Heroes and symbols of the rebellion or not, if you are caught with this you will be convicted of treason and sentenced to death. Also, well, I think it is no secret none of you could have set this up yourselves; it will not take them long to figure out who did. So as I would be joining you at your executions, please do make sure to not let that happen."

Beetee takes a few minutes to show us how the thing works. It's really simple, actually. A big map with pictures of various security systems where they are, we can just touch one to see information on it and turn it off, or we can just draw a path with our fingers on the screen and a little safe corridor opens up.

Madge takes the tablet (I think she's the most responsible of us) and we head for the surface. We stop at the door outside and Madge fiddles with the thing for a bit. "Ok, I think that's it."

"You think?" She knows what happens if we get this wrong, right?

"Well, yeah, I think so. The tablet says the security is off, but it's not like there's big signs to confirm it, Gale."

I'm about to ask Madge to show me the thing, but as usual Glimmer steps in to do something else entirely: she just opens the door and starts strolling outside like there's no danger at all. "What the hell are you doing?" I demand.

"Going outside. Isn't that why we're here?"

"And what if Madge screwed up and there's some District 13 security team on the way here?"

"We can see what they want then. If they want trouble, well, we're armed, Gale. Either way, it sounds like more fun than just standing around here." Glimmer shrugs and keeps on walking. "And Gale, you really should trust Madge."

"I do trust her; I trusted her to take care of our families, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you didn't have much choice in that."

"There's nothing wrong with double checking things."

"Hmm, I suppose not. Honestly I just want to be out of that gray place. Alarm, no alarm,either way it wasn't going to make a big difference to me."

Ok, that I can understand. Cooped up in that place for days, not needing to do anything really (besides getting outside which I guess technically isn't a need), just wandering around, not having to work to take care of my family, it's felt like crap; like I'm useless. I'm not ready to just go fighting people for something to do, but at least I can understand the thinking.

Madge did her work well though; no alarms, no guards, no vehicles swooping down on us. Just a quiet walk to the woods through a long abandoned military base. Crumbling buildings, old faded signs, a lot of the same crap from the arena. There's even the same suspicion of being watched and impending danger.

It's not until we reach the tree line that I start to relax. I start to feel the familiar feeling from the woods outside 12, Katniss is back at my side just like she always used to be, even Glimmer and Madge are in the same spots they were during training.

We spend several hours just looking around, learning the lay of the land and seeing just what's out here. When you're scouting out a new place, there's a lot to do. Sure you want to just wander around and learn your way around, but you need to be looking for several specific things too.

The first in my mind is water. In the wilderness short of a major accident or predator attack lack of water is the first thing that will kill you. Fortunately there's several streams in the area, and they all are fast moving clear water, so look drinkable. All right, one worry taken care of.

Speaking of predators, that's another thing I've been looking for. This isn't an arena, so there really aren't that many potential predators. Some big dogs, maybe a bear, but nothing insane like those big cats Snow sent after us. When it comes to normal predators, I haven't seen much sign, which is good. Granted there's a lot of wilderness out there and we only have seen a few hours' worth, but I'm still not seeing anything that would worry me.

Besides that is shelter. I don't plan to spend the night out here, but shit happens and sometimes you need a contingency plan. I don't trust any structures here (who knows if there's cameras or crap like that in there) but there's a few alternatives I've seen: some rocky outcroppings, hollows in the root systems of trees and even a few caves. The caves are the nicest, but critters tend to live in them too. Point is, there's options if we get caught out here, which is good news.

Another thing I've noticed is plants we can eat. I'm pretty sure at one time someone had a garden here. It's decades since it was tended too, but the wild rows of bushes with various types of berries look like someone put them there. I don't recognize every plant here, but I know for sure there's strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, some apple trees, tomatoes, cucumbers and I think I even see potatoes growing.

Finally is the last thing, the reason we're out here: game. I've been looking for places to put snares, natural things in the terrain that would funnel small animals into places to lay a trap, and I've found some here and 's no surprise; the big game though, that's the real shock. We've seen deer all over the place. There's so many here they actually move in herds. Honest to go herds of two or three dozen. Either these deer are the dumbest animals to ever walk the earth or there's crap for predators here, because we can get damned close and they don't run.

_Should I take the shot?_ Katniss asks in our silent language.

_Sure, go for it._ Killing a deer means we have to head back, but we've seen plenty already today, so why not.

Katniss draws her bow, lines up a shot and fires. Like always, her aim is dead on, an organ hit on a deer at the back of a herd we're practically right on top of. The herd breaks and runs, but our target only manages to stumble a short distance before it falls to the ground, dead.

Well damn, that's got the be the easiest hunt I've ever been on. Stuff to kill everywhere, and it's too damned dumb to know someone's after it. This is like hunting in one of those zoo things I've heard about.

"I don't remember it being this easy when we were training back in 12." Madge comments.

"That's because it's never been this easy." Katniss, says, retrieving her arrow.

"So this is hunting on easy mode; great." Leave it to a girl from 1 to treat this like a video game.

"Look, there's a lot here we can't use, and there's no one to trade with and no butchers, so I think we should process this here and now." I suggest.

"What's that mean, process it?" Glimmer asks.

"We gut it, we remove all the parts of it we can't or won't use and basically just carry the meat back. Better to leave the parts to rot here than have them to deal with in the building."

"Ok, so what do you need us to do?"

"Nothing; I got this. Just give me a bit of space; this is messy shit."

I kneel down next to the carcass and draw my knife. This isn't particularly fun, but it has to be done, and it's not the sort of job I can let an amateur do. Cut open the intestines and you contaminate the whole damned thing. If I'm going to teach Madge and Glimmer how to do this I'll show them on some small critter, a squirrel or rabbit or something like that; something where if they fuck it up it isn't a big loss.

It takes a little work, but eventually I have quite a lot of usable meat for us. "This is more than enough for everyone. Probably more than we can eat before it goes bad."

"We could smoke it." Katniss suggests.

"Yeah, that'd require producing a lot of smoke though; someone might notice."

"We can ask Beetee what he thinks about the risk maybe?"

"Yeah, maybe." I'm not convinced Beetee will really know how much smoke we'd need and for how long, but no point in arguing with Katniss about it here.

It isn't that long a walk back, and like on our way out, Madge turns the security off and then back on without any incidents at all. Inside the building we're using as our entrance we find Beetee waiting for us.

"Ah, welcome back; I see you were successful, excellent. If it's all right with you I'd suggest starting a fire to cook in here; I believe there are enough windows broken to provide sufficient ventilation, and hopefully the smoke will be dispersed over enough of them as to not be noticed."

"Sure, sounds like a plan." Katniss agrees. "We have more than we can use before it goes bad, so I was thinking we might want to smoke it."

"I would suggest holding off on that. There is a possibility of refrigeration."

"Serious? We got a fridge?" Glimmer looks excited.

"Not precisely. There are a number of old refrigeration units present, all of which have power, but none of which functions at present. I have hope that I can cannibalize several for parts to restore function to one, but it is not guaranteed. I simply have not had time to make an attempt yet."

"Cool. Wait, if there's a kitchen why not go fire up the stove and cook on that?"

"I'm afraid the cook tops all run on natural gas, and the lines for that have been empty for many decades. Though I did commandeer cookware for us all, so when the food is ready I have it waiting down in the library." Somehow I'm not surprised Beetee would like that place. What did Johanna call him again? Super nerd? Yeah, it fits.

We go with Beetee's plan and set up a small fire to cook with, and in no time at all we're taking five hot deer steaks down to the library for lunch.

**Glimmer**

Finally, the first good meal in days. Nice, thick, juicy venison; good stuff.

"Almost like we're back in 12 again."Katniss comments. "Eating what we've caught and hunted and all that."

"Yeah, almost enough to make you think we could just live like this full time." Gale agrees.

"Wait a minute, why couldn't we?"

"Why couldn't we what?"

"Live like this. Out in the woods, off the land, all that."

"I don't think living next to 13 is safe, Katniss. I'd want to be a ways away, like twenty miles, if not more." Madge suggests.

"Why?"

"There's a lot of coming and going, hovercraft and all that. And if 13 loses the war there will be Capitol forces all over this place."

"Ok, fair enough. So we range far out, real far. We can do it; these woods are safe, we can go out a few days at a time and find a place." Katniss is starting to like this idea.

"Katniss, I don't think that's realistic." Gale rains on her parade.

"Why not? There's more than enough game to feed everyone, we can find shelter. I mean, there's a military base here, there has to be buildings left from whatever town was here. We can do this."

"Katniss, it's been a good day, but we need to keep some perspective here. We can't just disappear into the woods forever."

"It figures you'd say that." I can practically see Katniss' mood darkening.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I'm not surprised you'd say that; it's not like it's the first time."

"Not the first time? What are you talking about, Katniss?"

"Don't you remember, Gale? We used to talk about running away from 12; you were the one pushing for it in fact. Did you know I was going to do it? After the Victory Tour, I was going to take a bunch of money from the bank and buy everything we'd need. Tents, backpacks, canteens, water, everything. I planned for us to leave the district for about a week at a time scouting places. I meant for us to be gone for good before the Quell."

"Katniss, that's just a fantasy, you should know that. Aren't you grown up enough to know that's just kids' stuff, not how the world really works?

"Kid's stuff? Not grown up? Let me tell you about Grown up, Gale. I'm grown up enough that I was put into a crazy game full of people trying to murder me. I was told I was going to be raped, again and again. You ever done the math how many times I'd have been raped? I have. Victors live a long time Gale; it's possible I could have lived to be a hundred. Want to know how many times I was scheduled to be violated? How about being told to your face that your family is scheduled for death. That grown up enough for you?

"Oh come on, I was in an arena too, so don't try holding that over me."

"What, the 75th Games? Those were a joke, Gale. Kill a lot of people? No? Glimmer and I did in the 74th. How about seeing your friends die right in front of you, lot of experience there? Maybe you spent the night with a pack of killers just a few feet below you? The Quell was nothing, a glorified camping trip, so yeah, you were there, but don't try and act like you're so hardcore and I'm just a kid."

"Katniss, you're not being fair."

"No, what's unfair is you deciding you'd work in the mines without telling me. That's not just unfair, it's a betrayal. You know I didn't want you to, but you did it anyway, and you didn't even tell me. I just get home and there you are, hurt. And there was no reason for it at all. None."

"I had to feed my family, Katniss."

"Oh don't give me that, it's a lie and you know it."

"How is it a lie?"

"You could have taken my money; I offered again and again. I got enough in a year's worth of winnings to last both our families for a hundred years. And if we ever ran out there'd be more money pouring in the very next year, and every single one after that."

"I wasn't going to take your money and you knew it."

"And there is, isn't it? It's all about you: it's ego. It's not about feeding your family, it's about you being the one who makes it happen. I had enough money to feed everyone and you knew it; you'd never have to go in those stupid mines, but that wasn't good enough for you. The only way you finally took money was when Glimmer told you Snow planned to kill you, so you could try and do something about it or just spend your last six months in some stupid hole in the ground."

"Give me a break here, Katniss." Katniss is really getting on a roll here.

"And what happened when you finally did take money? Your family did great. Great, Gale. They were better fed than I've ever seen, they had new clothes, new toys, they were doing as well as I can ever remember seeing. Victor money was the best thing that happened to your family in years."

"Damn it, Katniss, back off, will you please?"

"Fine, Gale. Have it your way. The same as always." Katniss gets up and storms out of the room. People have called me a drama queen before, but I've got to say, Katniss' performance here is a real solid one for that title.

"Fuck me." Gale sighs and gets up to go after Katniss.

The rest of us sit in awkward silence for a bit until Beetee speaks up. "Are those two always like that?"

"Actually, I don't think I've ever seen them argue." Madge answers.

"This one's been brewing for a while though." I add. "Ever since Katniss got back from the Tour. I started my academy so it didn't happen, but Katniss isn't the sort to let things this big go. She was real upset then, disappeared for most of a day into the woods in fact. I made sure not to let things go any further than that at the time though."

"I knew she was upset about the whole working in the mines thing, but I had no idea."

"The Tour was pretty bad…. We were pretty desperate by the end, and I think Katniss was depending on Gale for support or strength or whatever you'd call it. So when she got home and Gale had basically given up on their hunt and live in the woods dream it was kind of crushing for her."

Madge looks like she wants to ask more, but she's cut off by loud beeping from Beetee's tablet. "Hmm, what's this?" he muses, looking to see what has the little computer so excited. "Ah, how interesting, it seems we have something you might want to watch."

Beetee sets the tablet up so we can all see. The tablet is showing the Capitol logo on what I'm guessing is a TV feed. It starts with establishing shots of the arena we just got out of a few days ago, quickly transitioning to images of the tributes. Well at least the ones who are supposedly alive, which means none of me. Bastards.

"They're restarting the Games now." Madge says what we're all thinking.

"Yeah, but this show was way better before the killed that hot blonde from 1 off." Not even being shown in their big intro thing is totally weak. Madge and Beetee might laugh, but being just ignored and left behind sucks.

The commentary goes on for a while about how they've recreated the conditions just before our break out as perfectly as possible, going on and on about how many camera angles they examined and biometric data being matched, blah, blah, blah. It's a long winded way to say they made sure to reinjure all the tributes that are left and starve them the appropriate amount. Real nice of them.

They do the big dramatic countdown like they'd do at the start of the Games and when the clock hits zero the 75th Games are underway again. They're showing Otho, who's on the move. Makes sense since he's got no allies now, and considering the big dramatic exit we made, he must know there's no tributes left near him.

The fact he's moving is odd though; he shouldn't be moving like that at all. I saw him take a sword, right into the liver too. That isn't a wound where you're still in it. A wound like that basically means a day or two of intense pain and then death. Thing is, he doesn't look like he's dying.

"Something's off." I comment, trying to figure out what.

"What do you mean? The feed looks fine to me." Beetee answers.

"No, it's not that. It's Otho; something different, wrong somehow."

"Wrong? How do you mean?" Madge asks.

"He's moving wrong; he shouldn't be going around like that, not with a hole in his liver." And that's when I see what's wrong. "Wait, his wound, it changed."

"I guess they healed him when they picked him up after the breakout and then reinjured him the same way when they put him back in." Madge suggests.

"No, I know what they said, but that's not what happened. The hole in him, it's different. I was pretty close, I was sure Flash ran his liver through, but this wound's too low for that. It's still a hole in him, sure. But it was a death sentence before, now he's walking around and ready to kill."

Beetee takes the tablet and starts working. After a minute he has results. "I've compared footage from just before our breakout to the current footage and Glimmer is indeed correct; Otho's wound is now lower by a small margin than before. Enough that the organ damage is no longer an issue. Quite remarkable that you would notice that, Glimmer."

"It's what I do." Damn right, and I'm the best. Don't you ever forget it.

"So what, they made sure Otho would live? I guess they've decided he'll win then?" Madge reasons out loud.

"Probably. I bet Snow even told him where everyone else is." The last career has to win or the Games will go off message after all.

"It's like the old saying, isn't it?" Beetee asks an obviously rhetorical question. "The show must go on."

**Author's Notes:**

Once again, I'd like to thank that-fan for his help, in this chapter especially. Getting the tone for Johanna's scene took days of extra time (in fact this would have been out last week if I'd managed to hit the tone right on the first try.)

Of course, reviews are great, and I love getting them. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I'd love to get more reviews, hear what people think of this chapter, especially as things in District 13 are getting going for real and Gale and Katniss had a big fight.


	6. Closing Arguments

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Hunger Games and am making no money from this.

This story, like most Hunger Games stories I've read will be told from various points of view. As normal, I'll note when they change.

**Katniss**

I'm walking through the abandoned military base, going nowhere in particular. I can't hear him, but I know Gale's following me, not too far behind. I've only been though this place once before, so I have real idea where I'm going, and it doesn't take long for me to find a dead end.

I know Gale's behind, me in the doorway. I stand there, staring at the dead end in front of me. I don't say a word, and neither does Gale. It's almost like a little kid's game, see who can stay quiet longer. Our version of a staring contest, I guess.

"Katniss. There's nowhere else to go." I guess I win. "Will you look at me, please?"

Fine. I wanted to avoid this; I walked out to avoid it, but apparently that's not an option. I turn and look Gale right in the eye. "I wanted to kill myself. Did you know?"

"What? When?"

"On the Tour, on the last morning. We were just a few minutes from the Capitol. We were sitting at breakfast, me, Glimmer and Haymitch. We'd tried to avoid thinking about what was coming, telling ourselves it was far in the future and that we shouldn't think about it, but that morning, there was no avoiding it."

"Haymitch tried to tell us what would happen, but he didn't know; the best he could do was guess we'd be doing appointments for a week at least, probably two. I'd thought about running away, taking my family and yours and disappearing in the woods once I got home, but that morning, it all felt so far away…."

"Glimmer looked over at me, and I saw the same thing running through her head that was running through mine. She knew what I was thinking too, because she said she could show me how to make it quick and painless if I wanted. I'll never forget that moment. She didn't ask what I was thinking or try and cheer me up or offer some plan; she offered to help me get out of it. And I knew that if I took her up on the offer she'd be following right behind me."

"Jesus, catnip."

"If I'd said yes I'd have been gone before the train reached the Capitol. I think Glimmer would have waited to get there and then just start killing people, leave Snow and the Peacekeepers no way to take her alive when they went to stop her. That's hopeless, Gale. That's where we were. We had futures so terrible we couldn't face them, no hope, no escape, not even some stupid happy cheer you up words from anyone."

"We got out of it; we got lucky. It wasn't a brilliant plan from Haymitch or Glimmer, it wasn't skill or anything like that, it was just dumb luck. It was because some Capitolite got so fed up he decided to kill people and we managed to run for our lives."

Gale just stares at me. I haven't yelled or raised my voice this whole time. I don't know if that's throwing him off or what, but either way, I keep going. "You were always stronger than me, Gale. Neither of us ever talked about it, but I always knew. You were always so strong, and when I got home, I needed you. But you weren't there, Gale. You'd given up; you'd gone into the mines and gotten hurt."

"Katniss, I'm so sorry."

"I know you are, Gale. I know. But it still hurt; it just felt so empty. You were stronger than me. If you'd given up how could I hope to ever make it?"

"I'm sorry, Katniss. I had no idea you were looking up to me so much. I guess I was so used to you as a partner I never thought about it any other way."

"You never thought of it any other way? You said you loved me, Gale. That's another way."

"Ok, I guess you got me there. So I never looked at it except from my own point of view. That better?"

"But that's just it, Gale. It isn't better. That's the whole problem."

"I didn't mean it like that, Katniss, and I think you know that."

"No, Gale, I don't know it. You're all about your family and being partners and all that, but it seems like it's about you even more sometimes."

"Katniss, I'm sorry. I don't know how many more times I can say it. Maybe you're right. I do make it about me, I don't know. But if I do have a problem with that we can work on it, can't we? We shouldn't let this destroy what we have. Please, Katniss, I know you're upset, and maybe you're right, but look at where we are, look at what's going on, we still need to be partners, right?"

I sigh. He's right, it doesn't really matter what my stupid feelings say, we're part of a team. "Fine, you have a point Gale."

He might be right; we might have to work together, and I know he's sorry, but no matter how much he says it, it only seems to help a little.

**Madge**

You can tell a lot about how people feel about each other by their body language. There's the obvious things like physical contact, hand holding, arms around each other, more subtle things like little touches that aren't required but are there anyway but there's also things like physical distance. People who are emotionally close tend to be physically close, they tend to look at each other a lot, they tend to be happier when they're in close proximity.

Right now Katniss' body language is ice cold where Gale is concerned. She might not be yelling at him, but there's a distance I've never seen before there. Gale certainly looks sorry, but if I had to guess I'd say whatever apology he had got Katniss back to the room, no more.

Katniss and Gale sit back down at the table and we all look at each other awkwardly. I guess this is the part of drama no one talks about: the weird stuff that comes afterward. "So um, the Games are back on." I try breaking the ice.

"That so." Gale replies.

"Yeah. Glimmer noticed Otho's injury is different. Non-fatal now."

"That so."

"Oh grow up, Gale." Katniss snaps. "Why would Snow go through all the trouble of restarting the Games? It must have been a lot of work to fix the shield and all that."

"Yes, it would have been no small task to repair the damage we did, particularly in this sort of timeframe." Beetee answers.

"So why do that?"

"To distract from the rebellion." I'm thinking out loud. "There's only so many hours in a day and all that; if they're paying attention to the Games they won't notice the effects of a rebellion."

"And that's why he made sure Otho would survive. Snow's handpicked Victor to dazzle and distract and all that shit after the Games end." Gale adds.

"So what's all this mean for us?" Katniss asks.

"Nothing." is Glimmer's answer. "We're exactly where we were an hour ago."

"Then it's trying to think of what to do still."

"That's right."

"Well like I was saying before, why don't we just leave? We can start going out, real far out. You know, ten or twenty or even fifty miles. There's rivers and old roads we can follow, there's got to be good options for where to set up. Once we have a spot and have enough stuff there we can take our families."

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Katniss." Gale finally speaks up, though it's a lot lower key than before.

"Why not? We can get enough food so our families won't have to eat the local gray stuff while we're gone, looking for a place will take long enough that Glimmer's parents should be here by then. It's perfect."

"You really want to turn your back on everyone like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Katniss, we're not nobody Seam rats anymore. We're famous; people know us. You saw how everyone looks at us when we're doing our daily workouts."

"That's just because we're in freakish shape, Gale."

"No, it's more than that. We matter now. If we just do what you say we're running and hiding. We're abandoning everyone; all of Panem."

"Abandoning everyone? What are you talking about, Gale?"

"Like it or not, we're people that matter, people everyone looks to. We can make a difference. If we just leave, if we just think about ourselves we're abandoning all of Panem. We weren't willing to just get our families out of 12 when it was going to be bombed, how can we do it now? Except not just to all of them, to everyone, everywhere. I can't do that, Katniss."

"So what's your great plan then, Gale? Stay here and just do what we're told?"

Gale takes a breath before answering. "Basically, yes."

"How can you say that, Gale? This place is terrible. They have your brothers and sister in an indoctrination camp Madge said."

"I know, Katniss, and I don't like that either. This place isn't perfect, but this is the rebellion. This is what we dreamed of, what we hoped for, what we talked about all our lives. This is our chance to get rid of the Capitol. Sure, it might not be everything we hoped for, but it's what we have and I think we need to support it."

"So what's all this then?" Katniss gestures around. "All this work to get away, to hunt, to make it on our own. What's the point if we're just going to go back and play act in commercials?"

"The point is that all this makes our lives better. We eat better, we got outside again. We got what we wanted, and we can keep doing this. The game here is so plentiful and so unafraid it won't take more than a few hours a week to get enough so our families don't have to eat the gray goop. And I'm sure we can negotiate with 13. We can cut a deal to get the kids out of that school, maybe my mom can teach them herself. I'm sure our agreeing to help them will be enough to cover our entire families. Why, I bet we can get Prim out of working in that hospital she hates even."

"And say we do that, Gale, what then?" I ask.

"I don't follow."

"What happens if we do like you say and 13 wins?"

"Um, usually when I tell Posey a story that sounds that good I end with 'and they lived happily ever after'."

"Really? That's what you think will happen? Look around, Gale; look at District 13. And I don't just mean look at the paint and the food, look at everything. Look at the people, look at all the rules, look at how everything is run and controlled. And then ask yourself, do you want the people that made this place to rule all of Panem?"

"Oh come on, Madge. After the rebellion I'm sure there'll be an election and all that. 13 runs their district, but afterwards everyone will run Panem."

"You're a bad liar, Gale Hawthorne. We both know that will never happen. People who run a place so tightly as to indoctrinate children will never let go of power to just whoever happens to win an election."

"You're being paranoid, Madge."

"Am I? I don't think so. And even if this magical election of yours does come, 13 will have our endorsement."

"If they turn out to suck I won't endorse them, simple as that."

"You think you'll have a choice? I'm willing to bet they'll have endorsements already cut and ready to air from we do for this war. And if they need more, well, they've got all the control, they can use it. Snow does, why not 13 too?"

"Damn it, Madge, what do you want here? Is this place great? No, it sucks, we all know that. But this is the rebellion. This, 13, this is it. Now we can either suck it up and support them, we can run and hide or we can toss in with Snow. Personally I'm not willing to hide, and I think we can all agree on the whole 'fuck Snow' thing. So from where I'm sitting there's only choice. Hell, it isn't even a choice, it's the only thing we can do."

"And if 13 turns out as bad as the Capitol, what then? What happens if we trade Snow for um…. Hey, Beetee, who actually runs 13 anyway?" I look to our silent inventor.

"Alma Coin is president of District 13."

"Ok, so if we trade Snow for Coin and Coin's as bad as I'm afraid of, as bad as the Capitol basically, what then?"

"Madge, I don't have all the answers. The rebellion isn't perfect; nothing in life is. I don't know how it was for you, but growing up I learned most things in Panem suck. You just accept it and move on." I can't believe Gale is such a defeatist.

"So what you're saying is we just don't think about it and hope real hard?"

"Now you're just twisting my words."

"You know, there is another option." Glimmer interrupts.

"Huh? What other option?"

You know, Glimmer's been quiet this whole time and I didn't even realize it. She looks at Katniss. "Katniss, you remember the Victory Tour? Our stop in 11?"

"I think you know I do, Glimmer."

"That gesture the guy made, the one the Peacekeepers killed. What did it mean?"

"It's a sign of respect."

"Hmm, yeah, could be. You ever notice it looks a lot like a military salute too, though?"

"Um, I guess, sort of? So what?"

"Well I was just wondering, why would only one person do it."

"Because other people didn't want to get shot, Glimmer."

"But this guy did? He wanted to what, make a show of resisting that'd get him killed? Why? What's the point? There have to be loads of other ways to resist that wouldn't get him killed. Or if he was determined to die, why not attack a Peacekeeper or something?"

"Is there a point to all this, Glimmer?"

"I'm thinking that maybe he did what he did to send a message to us, Katniss. Not to Snow or people watching on TV, but to us, personally. You don't need the whole crowd for that."

"Ok, maybe. And you know what the message is, I'm guessing?"

"I think so. I think he was telling us that they were ready to follow us."

"Who's ready to follow us?"

"Everyone, Katniss. They're all backing 13 because it's the rebellion, the only game in town, like Gale said. But what if it wasn't? What if there was another rebellion?"

"Are you saying what I think you are? You want to start a rebellion of our own, a second rebellion? That's nuts." I can't quite place the emotion in Gale's voice.

"It is, yeah. But think about it. I don't think we're all going to stay together any other way. This way we can make a real difference for who we are. Not just how we look on TV or because of whatever cheesy dialogue someone writes for us. We'd achieve things because of what we can do, because of our choices. And in the end, if it works, we'd have the Panem we earned, not whatever that Coin chick decides Panem will look like."

"That's a nice speech, Glimmer, but do you actually know how to run a war?"

"No. But do you really think Coin or Snow does either?"

"Well considering they're already doing it…."

"But how do they know what they're doing, Gale? There's practically no one alive who remembers the last major war. From what I've seen of Peacekeepers they're a police force, not an army. They aren't made for big battles and stuff. And you can't try to tell me the people we've seen training in 13 are serious soldiers. Everyone is making do with what they have. We'd be the exact same."

"Actually, if I have to guess I'd say the militaries on Panem are using old training materials, from before the Dark Days. The sort you'd find in an old library such as this one, for instance." Beetee explains.

"This place has manuals on war? They just left books like that around in libraries?" Gale sounds shocked. I can't blame him; the thought of Snow allowing a thing like that is absurd.

"From what I understand, yes, such training materials were publicly available. But regardless, remember where you are, Gale. You are on a military base. Even if the public never was allowed to see them, this is the exact place you'd look for materials on the waging of war."

"So that's why you were so excited about this place; it wasn't just the super nerd factor. You've been helping us to find this room."

"I'm afraid that is not quite correct, Gale, thought it is close. I have been helping you because I think you all deserve it, and because I wanted you to have this conversation. I am a Victor, and I have my gifts and abilities, but I do not have the ability to affect this world that you do. By helping you to find this place now you all have a chance to choose."

"All this so we could decide what to do?"

"Precisely."

"And what if we went with Katniss' idea and just up and vanished?"

"Gale, I am not Snow, and I will not begrudge you the chance to simple vanish. Certainly as Victors you have earned the right to be left alone if you so choose. I did not bring you this far to offer you a choice where some options are simply an illusion."

"All right, so I think we can agree no one wants to join Team Snow." Glimmer states. "So that leaves backing 13, walking away or doing it ourselves."

"And you think doing it ourselves is the best way. Take on the Capitol and 13 both and then we finally get to elect a proper government we can all live with?" Gale asks.

"You've been to the Capitol, but you've never been to the districts like Katniss and I have."

"So what?"

"Gale, if you took the population of all the districts combined and doubled it, the population of the Capitol still dwarfs it. If we have a democracy the Capitol will vote itself back to exactly where we are now. Heck, they'd probably bring the Games back into existence within a few years."

"So what then?"

"Well you aren't a miner anymore…."

"You want us to do it? You want us to rule the world? Jesus Glimmer, even for you that's insane."

"All right, Gale, who then?"

Gale doesn't seem to have a fast answer to that. "You realize this sounds like a truly fucking massive ego trip, don't you?"

"Yeah, so?" I suppose from what I've seen Glimmer has gone through life with a philosophy a lot like that. "Just because it's an ego trip doesn't make it a bad idea."

"No, but the fact it's fucking nuts does."

"So what's your grand idea? We let the gray brigade rule the world?"

"We haven't even met with this Coin person. Maybe they're not so bad. Maybe 13's done a lot of this crazy stuff because they had to to survive."

"What's indoctrination of children help you survive against?" I ask.

"Madge, all we have to go on that they're actually doing that is something you read in some old book."

"Seriously, Gale? You're going to just ignore every bad thing about 13?"

"We've been here a few days. The food sucks, we can't go outside, school is too long. This all sounds like real petty shit, Madge. We're going to potentially tank the rebellion because we this isn't the cushy life like Victor's Village or the mayor's house?"

"Oh for god's sake." And that's the end of Glimmer's patience. "You want to play self deluded tool, you go right ahead, Gale. Madge, Katniss, what do you two want to do?"

"I didn't do all that stuff with you guys before the Games for nothing." I state. "And besides, my options aren't the same as you three; I'm not a Victor. I'm worthless to them for that propo stuff. So for me it'd be doing whatever random job 13 decides is for me if I stay."

"Madge, we can make a deal that covers you too." Gale offers.

"Even if you could, that's not the point. I did all that work to make a difference, a real one. The sort you all make, not just being a cog in some huge machine. I'm sorry, but I'm with Glimmer on this one."

"So what about you, Katniss?" Glimmer looks to the last of us still undecided.

"If it were up to me we'd all leave. Take all our families and disappear into the woods forever. But I guess I'm the only one who wants that." Katniss sighs a bit, shaking her head. "But Gale, I can't just ignore what we've seen here either. Yes, they got our families here, but if we hadn't demanded something special that might not have happened. There just isn't anything here that says to me they'd do a good job if they ran Panem."

"So you're with Glimmer too?" Gale asks.

"I guess so. At least this way we'd be in control of our own destinies. Instead of just doing what we're told by Snow or this Coin woman or Haymitch for once it'd be us making the decisions."

"And if having two rebellions means neither winds up winning, what then? The Capitol wins because of us."

"Gale, look at this place, we couldn't take living here for even a few days. I don't see how it matters much whether it's 13 or the Capitol in charge. We aren't going to be able to live in either one."

"So that's it then? I go along with you three or we just part ways here?'

"Gale, no one said that." I try calming him down.

"No, but that's what it comes down to, isn't it? You all want to go, I want to stay. There's no middle ground there. You don't even want to try the propo stuff, you're all ready to walk right now, aren't you?"

"Gale, if we try one propo we're already endorsing them. And then if we did one, why not another, and another. That's called a slippery slope. I know my endorsement doesn't mean a thing and they wouldn't even put me on camera, but I think that we have to either do all their propos or none at all." I explain.

"Not much of a choice then. You all aren't going to change your minds, so I guess I have to suck it up. Agree or not, I'll back you girls up. That's how we've always worked, right? We back each other's plays. I'm certainly not going to just go it alone."

"Hey, look at the bright side, Gale. If we're wrong and this all fails, before we die horrible deaths you can have 'I told you so' as your last words." Glimmer offers.

"That's lots of comfort, thanks."

"So how do we actually do this?" Katniss asks.

"That will take some doing." Beetee starts. "I would suggest appropriating two hovercraft. I can arrange survival supplies and weapons to be loaded, that is simple enough, but there is a great deal more that requires significant effort, and which you all must be the ones to undertake."

"Like what? And what does appropriating two hovercraft mean?" Gale asks.

"Simply put, stealing them. And to do it, you will need two pilots who obviously are willing to be part of your plan. Also a place picked out for your families to live, since I doubt you want to leave them here. Additionally, everyone from District 13 you intend to enlist will have to be prepared to leave with you at that time."

"Where the hell are we supposed to get pilots who are just going to sign on to an act of treason?"

"Some of the survivors from 12 who were conscripted into the local military have entered the pilot training program."

"People from 12? They're going to have like a week's worth of training only. You've got to be shitting me." I'm with Gale on this one; that's really thin.

"I am sorry, Gale, but that is the only way. Hovercraft are needed if you are to prosecute this conflict, and there is no other way to transport the supplies your families will need. If inexperienced pilots are a problem, then the only solution is more time."

"All right, look." Glimmer interrupts. "We need time before we can go anyway. For one we need to learn to use guns. For another Finnick isn't ready to go anywhere. It's two weeks just to get a kidney back in him, and probably more after that before he can be moved."

"We'll also need to decide if we take Enobaria or not. She is a Victor too, after all." I add.

"Yeah, we need to talk to her and see if we can trust her, and if we can, well, we'll have to make a jailbreak happen. Also, as much as it pains me to say this, we really could use Haymitch. I'm fine playing general and all, but this stuff's miles past anything I know or have ever done, and as much as he's pissed us all off, I think he can help."

"So we need the drunk. Fucking wonderful." Gale frowns at the idea.

"I don't like it much either, Gale, but when you call this all an ego trip you were kind of right. I've got no shortage of confidence in myself, but running a war? That's something I really think I could use a hand with."

"And just how do you propose getting Haymitch, the guy who doesn't just work for 13 but is trying to draft us into working for them too, to ditch them and join some pie in the sky rebellion?"

"I actually have an idea for that, actually." I state. "I'll need to do some research in here, but I might be able to put something together. It'll probably take a week or something to make happen, even if I find what I need though. Once it's all done, we'll still need to talk him into it though. Obviously that's a job that I think will take all of us."

That covers Haymitch, we'll need to learn to shoot, find pilots, find Enobaria and check on Finnick, but before all that there's one thing I want to try still.

"Gale, I know you don't like this plan; I know you're just doing it because we want to and you're backing us up. We aren't committed to anything yet. Haymitch might want no part of this, we might find no pilots, a lot could still happen. It'll be a few weeks before we're ready to go, so there's still time to change our minds. You can change your mind, or the rest of us can. There's still time, and I think that no matter what we do, we should try to all be on the same page when we do it." I've probably got no chance of influencing Gale, but I can't help but try and place peace maker here.

"Look, Madge, I get what you're doing and I appreciate it and all that crap. But sometimes people don't agree and that's not going to change. Sometimes someone just has to suck it up and put ego aside, and today that's me."

He's talking to me, but I wonder if Katniss isn't his real audience. If that's the case then maybe there's no real need to convince Gale; maybe he's going along to try and salvage things with Katniss. I wish he was going along with us on the merits of the idea, but if it keeps us all together it's ok, right?

**Author's Notes:**

Well despite too much drama with computer upgrades and too many parts replaced I didn't plan for, another chapter is done. As ever, thanks to that-fan for his help with editing and development.

Also, thanks to everyone who has reviewed. They're great and I'd love to get even more.


	7. Bedding Down For the Night

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Hunger Games and am making no money from this.

This story, like most Hunger Games stories I've read will be told from various points of view. As normal, I'll note when they change.

**Katniss**

Learning to shoot is today's goal; well, to start learning at least. If it's like every other weapon I've ever learned we won't get far past the basics in the time we have. We're still doing our morning work outs, but afternoons now are for guns.

It's sort of a continuation of Glimmer's academy, which is comforting in a really twisted sort of way. I'm not sure why; maybe it's the routine. I've heard some people do well with routine, with things being regular and not having to always wonder what to do today, what will I do tomorrow and things like that. Maybe I'm the same?

Gale's with us, He isn't as enthusiastic as usual, but that isn't really a surprise; he's still trying to convince us that we should stay in 13. No one's buying it, but he isn't going to let that stop him it seems like.

I still think walking away, just disappearing into the woods might be the best option, but thinking about it, I can see how Glimmer would never last in that sort of a life. Vanishing just isn't her thing. It seems like Madge has it in her head to make a difference too. That's how she puts it: make a difference. I know when she trained with us she said it, but I guess I just never really got how far she planned to take it. She really is serious about the whole change the world thing. Or was it save the world? I'm not sure which saying is the right one.

The gun training room (apparently called a firing range) has a class in it when we get there. Good, there's someone who can teach us to use these things. They all give us a lot of strange looks when we come in, which, well, is normal for this place. It's annoying, but I'm starting to get used to it.

We all stand there staring at each other for a while. "Can I help you?" the 13 guy that looks like the instructor finally asks us.

"Yeah, we're here to learn to shoot." Glimmer answers with a smile.

"Um, excuse me?" I think Glimmer secretly delights in getting reactions like that.

"You know, shoot. Like with a gun? Shootey things that put bullets into bad people?"

"I don't think you're authorized to learn that. Or to be here."

"Well, we are here."

"I'm sorry, you'll have to leave." Gee, I wonder if Glimmer will listen to that.

Glimmer looks around for a minute before starting off to a counter with racks of guns behind it. Just before reaching it she accelerates to a little run and vaults clean over the desk. Everyone is so busy staring at her (and the fact she did it in a really short skirt) that they seem to forget that she's gotten to where they keep their guns.

"Ok, heads up, Katniss." Glimmer gets my attention just before she tosses me a gun. I catch it, of course, but I don't know what the heck else I'm supposed to do with it.

Glimmer throws guns to Madge and Gale as well before turning back to the dumbfounded instructor. "Look, buddy, we're doing this. Now you can show us how to do it right or we can just make it up as we go and, well, I hope you manage to duck in time. So what's it gonna be?" Of course, Glimmer gets her way. After all, when does she not?

It turns out there's a lot to learn about guns. There's all sorts, pistols, sub machine guns, assault rifles, battle rifles, sniper rifles, and machine guns. They all shoot, but they're for different jobs, don't all fire the same size bullets and are really different to use.

About half the training is fixing the stupid things if they jam. My bow never jams, but it seems like guns do. There seems to be endless drills for fast ways to clear the stupid things. I guess it makes sense, if you can't shoot there's a good chance you won't be doing so well in a battle.

And then there's cleaning guns. They all have to be dismantled, all the parts cleaned and oiled and stuff and then reassembled. I know you need to take care of your tools (I maintained my dad's old bows for years) but these stupid guns really are a lot of work. I'm starting to wonder why anyone would use the things if they're so much trouble.

When we start actually shooting the guns though, I have to admit I see their virtues. For all the trouble they can be, guns are great for killing. As much as I like bows and am better with them then I probably ever will be with a gun, bows have limits. Range and rate of fire are the biggest ones. A lot of the guns here just spit out bullets until you let go of the trigger. If you aren't a good shot it helps to get so many tries to hit something.

The range is their biggest advantage I think. I can't come even close to being able to put an arrow as far as some of these guns can put a bullet. Madge especially is good at that part. I guess I shouldn't be surprised; she wasn't the best as a super close in fighter at Glimmer's academy. She loves those battle rifle things. They're big heavy things, but then so are the glaives and scythes and stuff Madge likes. I guess she likes that sort of thing. Maybe it makes her feel powerful?

Whatever the reason, I can see her actually using one a lot. The rest of us will have guns of one sort or another, but if I can, I plan to use my bow, and I think Gale and Glimmer still prefer their normal weapons too. After all, I'm so comfortable with my bow, I just don't see a gun feeling as familiar and trustworthy in my hands.

Still, they are fun. I'm not sure what it is, but there's a strange sort of thrill to this. Maybe it's the loud noise? I'm not sure, but even if I like my bow better, using a gun isn't as bad as I expected. I guess it's kind of like Glimmer's academy, not something I liked at first, but something I needed, and something that wound up being fun in an odd sort of way.

"You know, we need to make sure Prim learns this too." Glimmer announces during a break.

"What are you talking about Glimmer?" I demand.

"We need to make sure Prim learns to shoot."

"Yeah, I know what you said. The answer is no."

"Hold on Katniss, this isn't what you think."

"I think you have some insane scheme that puts my sister where people will shoot at her."

"Hopefully not, but it is possible."

"Glimmer, I am not letting my sister anywhere near any fighting. Whatever place we find for our families she'll be staying there."

"Ok, Katniss, and if one of us gets hurt, what then? If one of us gets shot, what happens? Just hope we survive the flight back to wherever you stash Prim? Or maybe you know a lot of other doctors you'd trust when you're under anesthesia?"

I hate when Glimmer does this; says some sort of insane, even blatantly stupid thing that I want no part of and then justifies it so I can't say no.

"She has a point, Katniss." There's Madge, trying to be helpful. "We don't have a lot of choices for medical care, and this whole plan comes down to basically you and Glimmer being front and center."

"Fine, what's your plan, Glimmer?" I sigh, defeated.

"Katniss, I'm not going to do anything stupid with Prim. I love the girl like she was my own little sister; we're going to do everything we can to make sure she's safe. I think we need her to be on a hovercraft in case we're hurt in the field. You know, a medevac sort of thing. We're not going to put her in the line of fire. I just want to make sure she can take care of herself in case something goes wrong. It's just a precaution. I promise we'll do everything we can to keep Prim safe."

"Yeah, yeah, it makes sense, I know. You win, Glimmer." We wouldn't have to do any of this if we were just going to disappear like I wanted.

**Gale**

We're visiting Enobaria in jail today. Beetee's got it rigged so the cameras will be off for about ten minutes. The girl's a Victor, so yeah, she can take care of herself in a fight; academy trained and all that. I've also seen her kill on TV, in some pretty brutal ways. There's no doubt she could potentially be useful. So the plan is to see if we can trust her.

She wasn't supposed to be here at all, I hear. Finnick's end of things got fucked up in the Games and he needed Enobaria's help to get out alive. 13, being the nice, understanding people they are promptly stuck a needle in her and down she went. Chick woke up in prison and probably is right pissed about it all.

Now I don't know what she's been told, but considering how much we're told (nothing) we're probably going to wind up wasting a bunch of our time just updating her. So less than ten minutes to figure out if we have to plan a jail break before we ditch this district or not.

We're having to sneak in, but Beetee claims he'll take care of everything. Somehow or other he'll use a computer to get a guard to leave his post (tell him he left the stove on in his apartment or some crap. I don't really care as long as it works.)

Whatever he does, it seems to do the job, because the spot on the plans where Beetee told us there'd normally be a guard is empty. We're able to walk right in; the right doors magically open for us and in no time at all we're outside Enobaria's cell. I look up and sure enough, the little red light on the camera is off; no recording going on. Good.

Enobaria looks at us, scowling, but not saying a word. We all sort of stare at each other for a while until Madge breaks the ice. "Hello, I'm Madge Undersee, from 12. This is Katniss, Gale and Glimmer."

"I know who they are." Simple enough answer.

"Ah, all right. Has anyone told you where you are then and what's going on?"

"Abernathy said 13 and rebellion."

"Oh, you talked to Haymitch. Well, yes, this is District 13 and you were rescued in a breakout from the arena at the very start of the rebellion. We wanted to meet you, get to know you, that sort of thing."

"Are you here to let me out?"

"We're here to talk. You know, get to know each other." That gets a growl and a bored look from Enobaria; Madge's diplomatic crap is striking out.

"And what if we did let you out, what then?" Glimmer got her attention again.

"You are expecting something in return. What is it?"

"Oh for fuck's sake, Glimmer, we're on the clock here." Did no one pay attention when Beetee said ten minutes? "We took a vote, most of us think this rebellion sucks and want to go start our own. All kinds of crap how if 13 wins it won't be much different than the Capitol running things. So we're wondering if you want in."

"You want me to kill Snow's Peacekeepers and people from this prison?"

"Some helping our families get set up somewhere new, but a lot of killing probably, yeah."

"Then I will help you."

"Just like that?" Katniss cuts in. "You don't know anything about us. Or what about the whole thing of if because of us the Capitol wins? Don't you want to ask any questions?"

"You are a Victor, you know what Snow does. You let me kill Peacekeepers and I will bathe in their blood. I don't care about the rest." Damn, angry girl this Enobaria.

"And we can trust you around our families?"

"I am not a monster, girl. I killed because I had to. And you know why I want to kill Snow's Peacekeepers. I worked with allies before, I will work with you as well."

"Except this time we don't kill each other at the end."

"All the better. So will you free me or not?"

I look at Katniss, Glimmer and Madge. _Can we trust her?_ I ask in our silent language.

_Finnick trusted her in the Games._ Madge answers.

_Finnick also showed up with a hole in him. Is his judgment the best?_

_Why don't we take her with us and keep an eye on her. If it doesn't work out we just let her go somewhere, if it does work out we have another person who can fight._ Glimmer suggests.

_We don't really have enough people that we can turn anyone away._ Katniss agrees. _We just have to watch her around our families._

"We're not letting you out yet. In a few days we'll all be leaving the district, we'll pick you up then." Glimmer announces. "Oh, and do I even need to add not to tell anyone about this?"

**Katniss**

We're doing our now usual afternoon shooting practice. Prim isn't with us, though she has been some days. It's been kind of a big problem for her to take time away from the hospital, and I really don't like putting my sister in a bad spot like that, and I still really hate the idea she might ever actually need these skills, but it'd be just stupid to not do it.

I don't think any of us would trust a District 13 doctor to treat us, not once we leave, and the only other doctors we know are Prim and my mom. My mom, well, yeah, not what I'd call dependable. We just can't take the chance that my mom won't zone out or whatever the heck you call that thing she does. So that just leaves Prim. I hate it, but we have to prepare for the worst; if things go wrong Prim might need to take care of herself until we can get to her.

Of all of us, Madge has taken to guns the best; so much so she's actually helping Gale out at the moment. It's sort of like how Glimmer is with normal weapons, like there's an artistry she sees to them. I don't know what it is, but somehow they just work for her.

She's having fun, and it's useful stuff, so I hate to pull her away, but the fact is, we're running low on food. Ever since we first got outside we've been eating the deer I shot. Actually, not just us, our families and Beetee as 's a bit repetitive eating deer most every meal, but it beats the heck out of the gray goop, and if we don't get more deer soon that'll be our only option.

"We should go get some food. It'll be dark soon, but I think we still have time." I announce.

"Hmm, yeah, good point catnip." Gale agrees. "We should get going."

"We don't all have to go, Gale. I'm the one that's going to take the shot. As long as I have someone with me in case of trouble and to help carry the thing we should be fine."

"You sure about that?"

"Sure, it'll be ok. You stay here with Madge, keep practicing, I'll take Glimmer and we'll be back in no time."

"Well, all right, I guess." Gale sounds a bit hurt. I'm not sure why, this idea makes sense.

Glimmer and I have made it most of the way to the library where we keep our weapons and the tablet that'll get us past 13's security when she breaks the silence. "So, hunting with no Gale."

"Um, yeah. Madge is doing a good job helping him, and it's not like it takes four of us to hunt, so it made sense."

"Don't see any significance to this, Katniss?"

"What are you talking about? Come to think of it, Gale seemed to think it was some big deal too. Why?"

"Katniss, the woods are your and Gale's special place, even I know that. You've told me about them so many times on the phone. I remember that rock we'd meet at, the first time we all went there it was like it was an invasion of your and Gale's privacy. Now it's like you're tossing all that aside."

"Glimmer, this is just getting something to eat."

"Are you sure? You sure it isn't because you're still mad at him from that big fight and are trying to cut him out so he can't hurt you again?"

"Did Madge give you some psychology book from the library or something?"

"Katniss, I don't need a book to figure this out. You trusted Gale, he hurt you and now you're pushing him away."

I sigh. They're my feelings, why does everyone else insist on talking about them? Don't they have their own they should be dealing with? "Look, maybe I am still a bit mad at him, but so what? He knew I wasn't going to be happy and he went to work in those mines anyway. And without telling me. But it's my feelings, my problem, and I'd appreciate it if you, Gale and everyone else would just let me deal with it myself."

"All right, all right." Glimmer puts her hands up in surrender.

After that it's a nice quiet trip off the old base and into the woods, but finding a deer is harder than I hoped this time. We stumbled on that herd by accident last time, today we're having to actually search. We didn't really go far out before, so we're having to cover a lot of new territory. I wish we could have explored it all when we first got outside, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. Between our existing training and learning to shoot there just hasn't been the time to get out here and look around more.

Eventually I find signs of deer and we start following them. I might not be the tracker Gale is, but a herd of a few dozen deer doesn't take an expert to find signs of either. Our search for the animals takes us across a stream, which is a bit bigger than I'd like. We cross is just fine, but if we were still going to be here come winter it'd be a problem. After all, streams that are frozen solid are good, but before they're solid and once they start to melt it's a lot of very cold water you can fall into.

It's sunset by the time we catch up to the herd. Just like last time, they don't know to be scared of us and I put one of the trailing deer down without problem. Glimmer was right, this really is hunting on easy mode.

I kneel down and start cutting the carcass up. We really need to teach this to Glimmer and Madge, but there's no time today. I'm rushing to beat the darkness as it is. "You ok carrying this back in the dark, Glimmer?"

"Yeah. I mean, I figured that's why you brought me here. Besides the whole being mad at Gale thing. I'm strong enough to carry that thing."

"That bag the tablet's in, there's flash lights in there, right?"

"I think so." Glimmer starts looking through the bag we carry around. Before this it was just been a nice way to take the tablet with never bothered to see what else Beetee had put in there. "Yeah, we have a few small flashlights, little first aid kit, some matches and rope looks like."

I'd like to be thankful for the good news, but before I can say anything the sound of thunder rolls through the woods. I look up through the trees, and in the last bits of dying light I can make out the black clouds bearing down on us. "I think we're about to get poured on."

I rush to finish my work under the light of flashlights. Unfortunately, by the time I'm done it's already started to rain, and we haven't made it more than a few steps back towards 13 before the real downpour starts.

Doing this at night was going to be bad already. Glimmer can't hold a flashlight very well while carrying the deer carcass, add in rain, wind and mud and it's a very slow trip. I can't help but think back to when it was Glimmer, Peeta and I in the woods. Of course then it was the woods of an arena, and we were moving slow because of Peeta's injury. It's an unpleasant memory, one I wish would just go away, but these dark trees just seem to keep bringing it back.

It's been raining a while by the time we get to the stream. Thanks to our slow pace there's been plenty of time for this downpour to turn the stream into a raging mass of water.

"Awe fuck." Yeah, Glimmer sized it up about right. "There's no way we can get across. Even without this thing on my back it's suicide to try crossing that, Katniss."

"Yeah, you're right. And I don't think trying to find another way across is going to work. We need to find shelter."

"I think I saw some caves when we were first exploring. Think we can find one now?"

"I don't think we have a choice. We're soaking wet and I don't know if we can last through the night like this."

"All right, Katniss, pick a direction. I'll go as fast as I can, but you might as well look ahead some. Just don't get so far ahead we can't see each other's flashlights or yell to each other."

Shelter is actually where I have the first good luck of the night; I find a small cave in practically the first place I look. It isn't huge, really just room for Glimmer and I with a little left over to try and build a fire out of the rain, but it's dry, and it's here, so it'll do.

"Glimmer, over here." I call.

Glimmer makes her way over, dumping the carcass as soon she can. It's under a small outcropping of rock, which I guess is good enough. I don't actually know how long it can keep, but us being dry is a lot more important than a bunch of deer meat.

"Try and cut some off for us to eat. I'll see if I can find anything dry enough to use in a fire." Glimmer gives me a skeptical look, but starts cutting off chunks of meat anyway.

The fact is, without fire it's going to be a very bad night, so we have to try. Well, actually I have to try; I'm the one looking for dry things to burn. Even in a downpour, there still can be dry wood, if you know where to look. Under piles of wood, inside knots of tree roots, tree bark if I dig deep enough and am lucky, that sort of thing.

I only spend a few minutes looking (I'm really cold and wet) and what I find isn't great, but considering we have matches, it should work out. It won't be a comfy night by any means, but we should survive to see the morning at least.

**Glimmer**

Last night should have really sucked; a miserable, wet, half freezing test of endurance on a cold stone floor, drifting in and out of nightmares, waking up to see if it's light out, if the rain stopped and wondering if we can get back to 13 yet or not. But oddly, that didn't happen.

The fire we had was a bit on the pathetic looking side and the wet wood Katniss gathered put out a lot of smoke, but it actually kept us warm. Instead of bad dreams I woke up cuddled up to Katniss, with an arm draped over her. It felt… nice. Really nice in fact.

I know I've teased Katniss about sleeping together before, though that was about sex rather than huddling together for warmth. This isn't quite the same. All that was to get a funny and cute reaction out of Katniss. This feels different.

Gale told Katniss he loved her, and then came to me, seeing if I'd interfere. I told him I wouldn't get in his way, but I wouldn't just back off either. It was kind of a wimp answer, all undecided and stuff. I haven't given it a lot of thought since then, but now I think it's time I did.

I feel Katniss stir next to me. "Hmm, is it morning?"

"Yeah, it is. Looks like it stopped raining too."

"Good." Katniss pauses awkwardly. "Um Glimmer, why is your arm there?"

"Was like that when I woke up. Why, is it a problem?"

"Um, no. I just didn't expect it, that's all."

"So I guess we should eat and then get going?" I change the subject. "Think you can get a fire going?"

"Yeah, I think I can handle that." Katniss gets up. "After we eat I think we should scout out that stream, but leave the deer here for now. We can come back for it if it's safe to cross."

"That's fine with me." I sure don't want to carry that heavy thing and then have to come right back here if that stream or river or whatever it is is still uncrossable.

Eating deer for every single meal starts to get boring after a while. Back in 13 we've got some fruits and vegetables we've managed to scrounge as side dishes, but still, it's not exactly a lot of variety. Venison's good and all, but I sure wouldn't mind some beef or chicken. It beats the gray goop, but man could I use a change of pace.

After the rerun breakfast, Katniss and I head out. The stream's still bigger and running faster than normal, but I think it's doable. It's a long, miserable trip back, and I defiantly want to bring Gale to carry heavy things next time, but we make it. Gale, Madge and Beetee are waiting for us just inside the building we use.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Gale demands as soon as we're inside.

"We crossed a stream hunting, but when the storm rolled in last night the stream had gotten too big to cross, so we wound up spending the night in a cave." Katniss answers.

"Oh. Well I'm just glad you're ok." Gale walks to Katniss and hugs her.

"I'm here too you know." Yeah, remember me? The girl who carried this stupid heavy thing? Apparently not, because Gale's busy hugging my Katniss.

"Oh, sorry, let me help you with that." Gale takes the carcass off my hands finally. "You know, it'd be nice if we had some way to communicate so that doesn't happen again. Radios or something like that."

"I am afraid that would be inadvisable." Beetee answers. "I will have something ready when you are all in the field, but in such close proximity to District 13 it would be inviting disaster. All frequencies are monitored in this area; even if your communications were encrypted, they would detect them and could determine your location, even without understanding a single word you said."

"So we just live with it a few days more. I guess if there's a solution coming that'll be good enough."

The rest of the day is the usual preparing to betray District 13 thing. Work out, practice with melee weapons, practice with guns, make food for us and our families, all that regular stuff. It's at the very end of the day when we're splitting up to go to our respective rooms that I decide to change it up.

"Good night, Glimmer." Katniss says, about to go into her room.

I don't give the response Katniss expects; instead I wrap my arms around her and kiss her. Like both previous times I've done this, Katniss is surprised, but she gets with the program nice and fast, kissing me back.

I keep the kiss going, pushing Katniss against the wall. The last time we kissed in the Capitol I didn't let things get out of hand; it was just a tease. This time though, this time I'm not stopping. Not unless Katniss outright tells me to.

We stumble down the hallway towards my apartment. Katniss finally breaks off our make out session with a frightened little noise. "Glimmer?"

"Don't over think this, Katniss; just go with it." She still doesn't look convinced. "Katniss, we've danced around this issue for half a year now. We both want this; it's time to stop hesitating and just do it."

Katniss doesn't say yes, but she doesn't say no either. In fact she doesn't say anything, so I kiss her again; actions are what this is all about. We stay in the hallway, making out a while. I'm getting really eager for more, but I'm afraid if I rush this I'll scare Katniss off.

After a while I'm finally out of patience and I start moving us to my apartment again. This time Katniss is as into it as I am and doesn't try and stop me. We finally get to my door and after entirely too much fumbling around trying to get the stupid thing open I drag Katniss inside.

**Author's Notes:**

Sorry this chapter took so long. I know it's way past my usual schedule. Partly is was the ending of the chapter, which obviously is important to get right (and took more than one draft) and also just plain lack of time due to other things going on in life.

As always, thanks to that-fan for his help with editing. I really couldn't do this without him.

Also, thanks to those who reviewed, I appreciate it. Of course, as always, I love getting reviews, so please, do leave one. Thanks, and sorry again for being so late with this.


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